


I'd Still Dance With You

by kikikryslee



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Angst, Banter, Barista Harry, Blow Jobs, Bottom Harry, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, M/M, Making Out, Morning Sex, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn, Smut, Student Harry, Top Louis, it's really not that much but for me it's a decent amount, not really they're practically dating the entire fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-03 23:42:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 56,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14007420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikikryslee/pseuds/kikikryslee
Summary: “Liam, if you met someone that you really liked, would age matter?” Louis asked.“I suppose so; to a point, anyway.”“Like, how young would you go?”Liam thought it over. “Uh… I don’t know. Like, 24?”Louis groaned and dropped his head in his hands.“Why? How old is this guy you like?”“Twenty-one,” Louis muttered.“Hang on. He’s 21, and you’re… what? Twenty-eight?”“Yeah.”“Wow. Um… well, OK. That’s a, uh, that’s a gap.”---Or, the 21/28 age difference fic where Harry is younger than Louis thought he was, and even though Louis’ head is telling him not to pursue anything, his heart doesn’t seem to agree.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, my God, it's actually done! This is my first chaptered fic in a while and my first really original fic in just as long, so I hope you all enjoy it! I've been talking about it on Tumblr enough, I suppose, haha. 
> 
> I've been thinking of this fic for a long time, so I'm so excited to see it finally posted. But first, I have to thank A LOT of people. 
> 
> I need to thank [Gina](http://tomlinshires.tumblr.com/), [Paula](http://goldbootsandvans.tumblr.com/), [Tabby](http://suddenclarityharry.tumblr.com) and [Angela](https://yellowpantsharry.tumblr.com/) for reading this as a WIP and giving me lots of helpful suggestions and comments that helped shaped the story for the better. And definitely to [Kat](http://harrystinyshorts.tumblr.com/) and [Michelle](https://temporaryfixlouis.tumblr.com/) for reading the whole thing once it was done to tell me how it read. I appreciate all of you SO MUCH!! 
> 
> And definitely thank you to [Lissie](https://phd-mama.tumblr.com/) for helping me figure out Harry's college program. I would've absolutely said something that doesn't make sense if I had done it myself, haha. 
> 
> I think that's it. Besides the obligatory:  
>  **DO NOT post this story or any of my other stories on any other websites. I'm not comfortable with that, and I hope that you can please respect that. If you see any of my stories on another website, please let me know. I am also NOT currently authorizing translations of any of my stories at this time. I hope you can respect that, as well. Thank you!**
> 
> And also, the title comes from "This Town." Duh.

Louis was late.

Like, monumentally late.

Like, ‘about to get fired from his new job before he could even officially begin’ late.

But even with all of that, he still needed to get coffee. Not because he actually drank the stuff or knew anything about it, but because he fully believed it made him look more professional – even though he was already wearing a suit and tie, but that wasn’t important now. Plus, he was just dead tired.

He burst into Spill the Beans, the coffee shop just down the street from his job and by some miracle, the last customer in line was just getting back his change, so Louis was able to be helped right away.

“Hi, what’s quick and easy to make?” Louis asked hurriedly.

The barista just stared at him. “Um… coffee?”

“Yes! Perfect. Give me some of that.”

“Sir, we have a lot of types of coffee. Do you want a latte? Cappuccino? Regular? Iced?”

“Do you have anything that you can just like, pull a lever and put it in the cup? I’m so late.”

“Um… Sure.”

The barista grabbed a cup and turned toward some high tech machine.

“Oh, I’ll take a large!” Louis added. “If I didn’t say that already.”

The guy nodded. He put the cup back and picked up a bigger one.

Louis took out his wallet and pulled out a five-dollar bill. He didn’t want to be  _that guy_ , but he checked his watch as the guy made his coffee, whatever he’d ordered. He wasn’t actually sure.

A minute later, he heard, “Here you go, sir.”

“Keep the change,” Louis said, handing him the money.

“Um, it’s $5.25.”

“Five twenty-“ Louis sighed. He hissed, “This is robbery.”

The guy just shrugged helplessly.

Louis pulled out another dollar and passed it over. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Louis turned and took a sip from the cup, crying out when the liquid scalded his tongue.

“Shit, that’s hot!”

“Um, it’s a latte, sir.”

Louis glared at him. “Thanks.”

Then he hurried out of the shop, praying with all his might that he wouldn’t be late.

\---

On Tuesday, Louis wound up running even later than he did the day before, so late that he didn’t even make it for coffee. But on Wednesday, he was ready. Louis got to the coffee shop almost twenty minutes earlier than he did two days ago, so he was actually doing well with time. He was starting to get the hang of his new commute.

When he walked in, there were a few people in line, so he waited his turn. He saw that the barista from Monday was working, so Louis thought it might be best to apologize for his previous rudeness.

When he was next in line, the barista looked past the customer whose order he was taking and saw Louis. He gave him a warm smile, so Louis suspected there were no hard feelings.

After the customer in front of him paid for her food and moved off to the side, Louis stepped up to the register.

“Ahh, Speedy Gonzalez, how are you?” the barista joked.

Louis smiled. “I’m good, how are you?”

“I’m doing fine. Can I interest you in another latte? Warning! It’s hot.”

Louis dropped his face into his hands. “God, I’m such an idiot. I really am sorry about the other day.” He looked up. “I promise I’m not usually like that.”

Louis was vaguely aware of the people waiting behind him, but he didn’t particularly care. Besides, there was another register.

The guy shrugged. “It’s OK. I mean, it was Monday. Everybody gets a little frantic on Mondays.”

“Well, it was my first day at my new job, and I was just  _really_ running late. And it was also like, my fourth day in my new apartment, so I underestimated how long it would take to get from there to here to my job, you know what I mean? So I was running here and I kind of took it out on you, even though it’s not your fault that I don’t know how to be an adult. I mean, I’m an adult. I’ve  _been_ an adult; I’m 28. But like, a real adult, you know, with rent and a job and a fucking suit I have to wear every day and- shit. You didn’t ask for my life story. I’m sorry.”

Lucky for him, the barista was laughing by the time Louis finished.

“I’ll just take another latte, please. A small this time.”

“It’s OK,” he said as he keyed in the order. “You’re really not the worst customer I’ve ever had. At least you’ve never thrown coffee at me because it wasn’t hot  _enough_.”

Louis’ eyes widened as he handed him a five-dollar bill – which would actually cover the tab this time.

“Wow. Yeah, never been that bad. Shit.”

“It’s cool. I know how to duck,” he said casually. “Um, what name should I put on the cup? I didn’t get it before.”

Louis sighed. “I didn’t even give you my name? God, what is wrong with me?”

“It’s OK. I mean, you didn’t go anywhere, so it was easy to find you.”

“Still… I’m Louis.”

“Louis. OK. It’ll be right up.”

“Thank you… Um…” Louis ducked to read his name tag. “Harry.”

“You’re welcome.”

Louis moved over to the side, ignoring the huff from the woman behind him as she approached the register.

“So where do you work?” Harry asked as he made the latte, making easy conversation as if the rest of his coworkers weren’t rushing around him to get things done.

“Uh, I’m a junior advertising executive at Thompson and Callahan.”

“Ooh, fancy.”

“Yeah. I got promoted a few days before Christmas, and my first official day was Monday. So, I didn’t even have two weeks to prepare myself.”

“And you just moved to the area, too?” Harry asked. He placed the latte on the ‘Pick Up’ counter so Louis could grab it.

“Yeah. Well, sort of. I lived with my mom and she’s only like, half an hour away now, and I’d been working at T and C for the last three years, so I figured it was time to make the move, because driving about forty-five minutes each way, with traffic and everything was getting to be… A lot. So, I took the plunge and got my pricey apartment, and then got the promotion at almost the same time. It all worked out.”

“It did. Well congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“So I guess I’ll see you around?” Harry asked. “You know, since you’re working right down the street.”

“Yeah, I think so. I might become a regular to this place.”

“Cool. Well, I don’t work Thursdays, so maybe I’ll see you on Friday?”

“Sounds good.”

“See you on Friday, then, Speedy.”

Louis laughed. “Bye Harry.”

\---

The next day, as promised, Harry wasn’t at the shop. Louis briefly wondered what he was doing at the moment. If he was anything like Louis, he was probably sleeping.

A chipper blonde named Perrie took his order. Louis didn’t try to make small talk with her. It wasn’t the same.

He walked down the street until he got to his office building. When he walked in, the security guard waved at him from behind the desk.

“How you doing, Charlie?” Louis asked.

“Doing all right, Louis. Doing all right.”

“Yeah, don’t work too hard.”

“Never have to worry about that, Louis,” Charlie joked.

Louis laughed. “Have a good one, man.”

“You, too.”

Louis stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for the 18th floor. He leaned back, just relaxing for a moment, thinking about everything he had to do today.

One of his bosses, Mr. Thompson, was nice enough to give him a few days to get settled in before checking on his progress on his new campaign, but Liam, the guy he was partnered with, had already started working on what to do for the new up and coming jewelry designer they’d signed. Louis didn’t want the other man to think he was slacking just because it was his first week.

The elevator door dinged open and he stepped out – and right into Mr. Thompson himself.

“Oh, so sorry, sir,” Louis rushed out, checking to make sure none of his drink spilled on his boss’ suit.

“Don’t worry about it, Louis. How are you? How are you settling in?”

“I’m great, Mr. Thompson, thank you for asking. But I’m settling in nicely.”

“Louis, you’re not an assistant anymore,” Mr. Thompson reminded him. “You’re one of the big boys now. You can call me Logan.”

Louis smiled. “Logan.”

“There you go. How’s Liam treating you? He’s being nice to you?”

“Yeah, Liam’s great. He’s showing me everything he knows. I’m just trying not to slow him down.”

“Nah, you could never slow Liam down,” Logan said with a laugh. “That kid’s the Energizer bunny. He never stops, always working on something.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re doing fine. I’ll catch you later, son. I’ve got some people to catch up with upstairs.”

“Absolutely, sir. We can talk later.”

“Man with a plan,” Logan said gruffly. “I like it.”

Logan stepped into the elevator and gave Louis a nod and a wink as the door closed.

Louis took a deep breath. Well, the boss liked him. That was a good sign.

He made his way to the office that he shared with Liam, unsurprised to see the door already wide open and Liam looking over something that he and Louis had drawn up yesterday.

“Liam, hard at work already?” Louis asked.

“Do you think this shade of blue is too light?” Liam replied in lieu of an actual greeting.

“Liam, it’s 8:22. We’re not contracted to start until 8:30.”

Liam just stared at him.

Louis sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. “If you want to make it a little darker, we can. But we’ll have to look at the color of the print to make sure the colors won’t clash too much. Also, is this the only bracelet we can use? Because if we’re making it a darker blue, we might want to change it from gold to silver to have a better contrast.”

Liam looked back at the ad that sat in front of him. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Let me see what other jewelry images we have.”

“OK. I’m going to finish my latte, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, go ahead. We have plenty of time.”

Louis tried not to roll his eyes.

\---

On Friday morning, Louis entered the coffee shop and saw a smiling Harry behind the counter, filling an order. He stood at the scary silver machine Louis knew he’d burn himself with if he got anywhere near it, and from where Louis stood, it looked like he was just pouring pure steam into a mug.

Louis shrugged. Harry seemed to know what he was doing, so he assumed that’s what the customer wanted.

As Harry handed the mug to the customer in front of Louis, Perrie from yesterday called Louis over to her register.

He tried to hide his disappointment that Harry wouldn’t be waiting on him. He planted a smile on his face and stepped up.

“Hi, can I just have a small latte please?” Louis asked.

“Sure can.” Perrie typed in the order then turned around to fill it.

While he waited, he looked over at Harry, who was taking an order from another customer. He still glanced over to Louis, though.

“Hey,” he said, smiling.

“Hey, Harry,” Louis replied.

Perrie came back just as Harry was walking away from his register to get two scones.

Louis paid his bill and headed for the exit. Before he pushed the door open, he looked back and saw Harry watching him.

He tipped his cup to say goodbye and Harry gave him a friendly wave.

Not a bad way to start the morning.

\---

“So how was your first week?”

Louis kept his attention on the television, not in any rush to answer Zayn’s question.

The two of them were at their favorite bar, one they’d started frequenting in the years following their college graduation.

“Good,” Louis said. He tried not to smile as he took a sip of his beer.

“Just good?” Zayn asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, it was fine.”

Zayn punched Louis on the arm.

“Ow!” Louis whined. “What the hell?”

“I know you’re kidding. Right? You’ve been an absolute menace over this job for the last six months. Always pouting… ‘Zayn, what if I don’t get it?’ ‘Zayn, what am I doing with my life?’ ‘Zayn, why did I sign the lease for this new apartment?’”

“Hey, it was scary! Do you know how much an apartment costs?”

Zayn stared at Louis for just a moment. “… No.”

“OK, I know you’ve lived on your own for the last year, but come on. It was all new to me.”

“And you’re going to tell me all about how great it is right now or I’ll stop being your friend.”

“No, you won’t. You’ve been stuck with me almost ten years already.”

It was true. The two of them had first met in a freshman graphic design class at college. They’d both breezed through the course, as it had been all of the basics that they already knew, so they spent most of their class time taking turns napping while the other kept a lookout for the professor.

“OK, fine,” Zayn admitted. “I’ll make you pay tonight’s bar tab, though.”

Louis’ eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

“Spill.”

“OK. So, it’s great. Honestly, I’m loving it. We’re working on this ad campaign for this new jewelry company, and I have so much freedom with what I’m doing. It’s a little nerve-wracking, to be honest, because it’s actually my work. Like, I’m not just helping someone do an ad anymore. I’m actually the guy in charge.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure you’re killing it. How’s your partner? Still uptight?”

“He’s coming around. He hasn’t been doing it for that long, either – only a few months. So that could be it. Just gotta hook him in with the old Tommo charm.”

Zayn snorted. “The old Tommo charm?”

“Yeah! You know, the same brilliant jokes and naturally enchanting personality that drew you in.”

Zayn just stared at Louis. “I think you mean, pester him so much with your clinginess and love of attention that when he asks what he can do to make it stop, you’ll tell him that you want to be friends and then he’ll just accept his fate.”

“You make me sound like such a nuisance.”

“Of course not! Just… full of the old Tommo charm.”

With a wink, Zayn picked up his drink and turned his attention to the basketball game on the television.

Louis rolled his eyes. He knew Zayn’s trick - say something witty and then turn away from the conversation. Louis knew he only learned that from an episode of  _Will & Grace._

But he also knew better than to point that out.

\---

Monday morning unfortunately came around again, and Louis found himself standing in line for coffee a bit earlier than the last few days.

He’d meant to go grocery shopping over the weekend. Really. He had made a list and everything.

But then Steve and Bebe, two of the jingle writers from the floor above Louis, had invited him and a few other people out for drinks on Saturday night. And, well, Saturday night quickly turned to Sunday morning, and needless to say, Louis forgot all about grocery shopping.

So now Louis stood in line, feeling his stomach grumbling because he didn’t have anything for a substantial breakfast, so he was going to have to add a bagel melt onto his order. He hoped it was good.

“Next!” Harry called out, smiling right at Louis.

Louis grinned and stepped up to the register.

“Ahh, we meet again,” Harry joked.

“Yes, Monday has come around once more, sorry to say.”

Harry shrugged. “There’s always worse things. The heater could be broken, or you could have a stomach flu or my hair could look less than amazing today, but… Who are we kidding? It always looks amazing.”

Harry had a point. His dark brown curls hung loosely around his face, going just past his shoulders. Louis briefly wondered if he pulled on one if it would spring back into place.

Louis cleared his throat, trying to stop himself from thinking about that last one too much.

“I do like the curls. They’re very bouncy.”

Harry giggled. “I bet you say that to all the boys,” he teased.

Louis let out a laugh.

“Anyway, do you just want your latte again?” he asked, already typing it into the register.

“Please. And actually, can I add a bacon, egg and cheese bagel melt to that, too?”

“Nope,” Harry said simply.

It caught Louis off-guard, to say the least. “Umm… what?”

“Oh, haven’t you heard?” Harry asked without looking up from the register. “Once you become a regular, you can’t change your order. Whatever you get that first day, you have to get it every other time you come in.”

Harry looked up at Louis slyly, trying to gauge his reaction.

And, oh. Harry was teasing him. Sometimes the early hour made it harder for Louis to immediately pick up on sarcasm.

“Oh, is that right?” Louis asked, playing along. “So what does one do if they need to change their order?”

“Go into the Witness Protection Program. Obviously.”

“Is that right?”

“That’s right,” Harry said. “Yeah, you go and get a new look, new identity and all that. Then you come back here and place a new order, and then every time you come with your new identity, you have to get that order. Duh.”

“Oh, well sign me up for that, then!” Louis joked.

Harry gave him a skeptical look. “You don’t just  _sign up_ for the Witness Protection Program, Louis. You have to like, witness a murder first. Then you get put into it.”

“Oh, just witness a murder? Seems like a lot of work just to add on a breakfast sandwich.”

“It does. But lucky for you, the guy manning the register thinks you’re an all right guy, and is willing to do it. Just this once, though.”

“Well thank you for that, Harry. You’re a good man.”

Harry snorted and started laughing. “Well, thank you. American cheese ok on that?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect.”

Harry stepped away to make Louis’ latte, and before he could get back, another employee, Johnny, judging by his name tag, came up and handed Louis his sandwich.

“There you go, sir,” he said.

“Thank you,” Louis replied.

“And one latte,” Harry said, returning with Louis’ drink.

“Thank you, too. OK, I’m off,” Louis said after he paid for this order.

“Wish I was,” Harry muttered.

Louis smiled. “Only a few hours to go.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you Wednesday?”

“See you Wednesday.”

\---

The next few mornings with Harry - well, no, not  _with_ Harry, but like, spent in his company - went about the same. The two of them continued to joke around with each other while ignoring the rest of the people in the coffee shop and exchanging little details about their lives. Of course, whenever Louis had something to say, Harry almost always had a response.

For example, Louis found out that Harry has an older sister named Gemma - “she’s OK, I guess” - loves kiwis and bananas - “Not together! Eww, Louis!” - and can snap his fingers on his left hand, but not his right - “It’s very frustrating, OK! I like being even on both sides of my body.”

In return, Harry learned - and commented on - Louis has six younger siblings - “Gemma’s still probably more of a handful, Louis. Hate to break it to you.” - has never understood the love of peppermint in  _everything_ around the holidays - “It makes life worth living, Louis!” - and had never gone camping - “How do you enjoy nature, then?” “I don’t.”

All in all, it hadn’t been anything earth-shattering or overly revealing, mostly just a lot of little quirks, but Louis was absolutely sure of one thing.

He absolutely, definitely had a crush.

\---

“Mom better hurry up,” Louis said to his stepdad, Dan. “She’s going to miss it.”

Dan shook his head. “Nah, she’ll make it. If not, you know she’ll just make the girls do the routine over again.”

Louis, Dan, and Louis’ sisters were currently waiting for Louis’ youngest sister Doris’ dance recital to begin. His mom, Jay, had taken his brother Ernest to his indoor soccer practice that morning, and was currently racing across town to make it on time.

That was one thing Louis admired about his mom and step-dad’s relationship. They always shared the duties in getting the youngest twins where they needed to go. They switched on dance rehearsals and soccer practices, just because they both wanted to be involved in what Doris and Ernest were doing.

It was sweet.

“She has eight minutes,” Lottie said from the other side of Louis. “She’ll make it.”

Louis nodded at her, unsurprised to see her, as well as his other sisters, Fizzy, Daisy and Phoebe, all with their feet propped up on their chairs and staring right at their phones.

Although, Louis could admit that the only reason he wasn’t on his was because he felt like  _someone_ had to talk to Dan.

A few minutes later, they heard a rushed, ‘Ernest, go!’ behind them.

Dan and Louis turned to see Jay and Ernie coming down the aisle toward them. Luckily, they’d managed to save them two seats on the end.

“We made it,” Jay said victoriously, kissing Dan quickly.

Louis caught the confused glance the older woman behind them gave her mom, and tried to shake it off. He’d gotten used to those looks over the years, the ones from judgmental people who seemed to think their opinion on Jay and Dan’s relationship was important.

And yeah, there was an age difference between his mom and stepdad - almost 10 years - but Louis didn’t even think about it anymore. Never had, really, especially not since he saw the two of them together and how much they cared for each other.

It still got on his nerves seeing the judgment from others, though.

“You made it,” Dan said. “Ern, how was practice?”

“Good.” Ernest shrugged. “I scored a goal because Cooper wasn’t looking.”

“Still! You scored a goal! Probably more than Cooper got.”

Ernest giggled. “Dad, you know Cooper doesn’t score goals. He sucks.”

Jay shot Louis a look.

“What are you looking at me for?” Louis asked.

“And who taught him that word, Louis?”

“Fizzy!” Ernest answered.

“Did not!” Fizzy immediately said, her head shooting up from her phone.

Jay rolled her eyes. “Ern, it’s not nice to say that people suck.”

“Oh. Well, he’s really bad then.”

Jay bit her lower lip. That was probably as good as she was going to get.

Just then, the lights started flickering, and a hush fell over the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” came a voice over the loudspeaker. “Welcome to this year’s Winter Recital! We please ask that you turn off all cell phones or switch them to vibrate, so as not to disturb the dancers or the people around you. For safety reasons, we ask for no flash photography, and to please hold all applause until the end, so our dancers can hear the music. If you need to leave for any reason, please use the exit on the right side of the auditorium instead of the one in the back, so no extra light is cast on the stage at the time of the performances. Now sit back and enjoy!”

Louis sank into his seat. He knew Doris’ group would be the third to go on, so he had to sit through the four-year-olds first, and while they were cute, they weren’t particularly skilled in the art of dance yet.

Or in the art of keeping their balance.

The second group was made up of five- and six-year-olds, so they were a little more exciting.

Finally, even though it had been less than fifteen minutes, Doris’ group came on the stage. It was easy to spot his baby sister in the back - she was the only one up there with red curls. They formed two even lines, standing with their hands clasped in front of them and their toes pointing out. When the classical music began to play, they raised their hands in the air one at a time, and did that move Louis was pretty sure was called a plié. They did a move where they turned themselves to the right, shifting their weight into the right leg and extending their arms away from themselves in a straight line. Then they repeated it on the other side.

The girls in the back came up to fill in the spaces left by the girls in the front. After that, they did that move where they put their feet next to each other, but their toes were pointing in opposite directions. Louis couldn’t remember the name of that, but he definitely knew they looked graceful.

Next, the girls who were in the front to start with stood up on their tiptoes and made their way to the back. Now Doris was in the front, and luckily, on the side of the stage that was closer to where Louis and his family were sitting.

He held up his phone to take a quick picture, trying to get the glare out so the picture wouldn’t be completely awful. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his sisters all doing the same thing.

It was a good thing he took the picture when he did, because the next thing he knew, the girls were moving around. They stayed in their lines, but curled around the space of the stage. When they stopped, they were in a straight line, and did a move where, one by one, they held their arms above their heads, lifted up one leg bent at the knee, held it up to their thigh for a moment, and then placed it back down on the floor.

There were a few more moves, including one where they stood in a circle, joined hands and spun in a circle, and another one where they put their hands on their hips and pranced around the stage.

It was cute, if Louis did say so himself, and the girls showed much better coordination than the groups before them.

After another minute, it was over, and the girls were taking their final bow on stage as everyone applauded.

“She’s so talented,” Louis said.

“She’s seven,” Lottie reminded him with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, but it’s remarkable. She’s only a third your age and already a better dancer than you.”

“Hey!” She nudged him with her shoulder, knocking his elbow off the arm rest between them.

“Don’t deny the truth, Lottie. The first step is admitting it.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“I can live with that. It keeps life interesting.”

Not having a comeback, Lottie just shook her head and looked back at her phone.

Louis gave himself a pat on the back for outwitting his sister. With how smart they were, it wasn’t something that happened often.

\---

On Monday, Louis was happy to see Harry behind the counter at Spill the Beans.

And if the smile on Harry’s face was anything to go by, Harry was happy to see him, too.

Louis only had to wait a few minutes before Harry called him over.

“Louis,” Harry greeted. “Good to see you.”

“It’s good to be back, Harry,” Louis replied. He placed his order and moved over to the side while Harry prepared it. “How was your weekend?”

“It was fine, I guess. I was here both days.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

Harry shrugged. “It’s ok. My boss is letting me have off on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the semester and she doesn’t have to. So I can’t complain too much.”

Louis tensed. “Semester?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re still in school?” Louis felt weird about thinking Harry was cute now. He’d thought Harry was younger, but not young enough to still be in college.

“Well, grad school,” Harry continued. “I’m going for my Master’s in School Psychology.”

Louis felt himself able to breathe again. “Oh! Great!”

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Harry said, seemingly unaware of Louis’ minor mental crisis. “I’ll be done next year, and then I’ll be like, legit.”

Louis smiled. “That is great. But why do you need Tuesdays and Thursdays off? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

“No, of course not.” Harry placed Louis’ order on the counter, but Louis didn’t rush to get it. “Next week, when the semester starts, I’ll be doing a psychology practicum those days. It’s like an internship, but less responsibility. And it’s part of my requirements.”

“Got it. Well that sounds like fun. And yeah, that is really nice of your boss to do that for you.”

“It is. Yeah I really-”

“Hey, Harry!”

Perrie’s voice cut into whatever Harry had been about to say.

“Sorry to interrupt you two, but um, I kind of need your help.”

Louis glanced over his shoulder and saw that the line had grown since he’d arrived. He looked back to Harry to see him blushing, and looking a bit guilty over ignoring his responsibilities.

“I should go,” Louis said.

“Yeah, I should, too.”

“I’ll see you Wednesday?”

Harry nodded eagerly. “Wednesday.”

Louis winked and grabbed his order, making his way for the door.

\---

The next night, Louis was still thinking about Harry being in school. He couldn’t deny that when Harry mentioned a new semester, it had reminded him that he didn’t actually know how old Harry was. Obviously, he was old enough, if he was in grad school, but it wasn’t one of those questions he could just randomly ask, but instead, had to wait for the right moment. Otherwise, it would be weird.

After a lot of internal debate, with one side of Louis’ head saying ‘age doesn’t matter, it’s not like anything will happen with him anyway’ and the other going ‘you need to know if this is someone you could raise your potential babies with,’ Louis pathetically googled how many years it takes to get a Master’s degree.

The most common answer said five semesters, or about 2 1/2 years, after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree.

“Ok, so if Harry graduated high school at 18 and got a Bachelor’s at 22…” Louis said, trying not to feel creepy as he figured this out. “Then he’ll finish his Master’s when he’s 24. Maybe 25, depending on his age.  _But..._  if he graduates when he's 24, and he’s done next year then that would make him… 23?”

Louis cringed, not liking that number. Louis was five years older than Harry, and he didn’t know how he felt about that. Sure, Harry was attractive, but… five years was a lot.

Louis sighed. Looked like his crush was just going to have to stay a crush.

\---

“Harry, come on, we have to go.”

Louis was trying not to eavesdrop on Harry and Johnny’s conversation at the shop on Wednesday, but seeing as he was the next customer in line, it was kind of hard not to.

“I don’t know if I feel like it, though,” Harry said. “Hi, Louis, you want your latte?”

“And a chocolate chip muffin, too.”

Harry nodded, typing in the order.

“Louis,” Johnny said, “will you please tell Harry he has to go out for his birthday?”

“Oh, it’s your birthday?” Louis asked.

“Not yet,” Harry answered. “It’s coming up.”

He walked away to get Louis’ drink and muffin.

“But we have to go out to celebrate!” Johnny insisted. “Next!”

“But why do we have to go to Atlantic City? Why can’t we just stay local? It’s cheaper, it’s closer… Plus, remember what happened for Niall’s birthday?”

“Yes, but we’re all older now…” Johnny said.

“And older, of course, means wiser,” Louis cut in.

“Don’t encourage him,” Harry hissed.

But it was too late. “See?” Johnny asked, walking away from his register to get a muffin for a customer. “Louis thinks we should go.”

“He does not. He just likes seeing me suffer.”

“That’s not true,” Louis said.

“Sure it is. You gave me death stares because I told you your latte was hot.”

“That was a different time.”

“It was like, two weeks ago.” Harry rolled his eyes and set the latte down on the counter. Then he went back to grab the muffin.

“Come on, Harry,” Johnny was practically begging. “When was the last time we got properly shitfaced?”

Louis tried not to laugh at the middle-aged woman who stood at Johnny’s register. She looked properly scandalized at Johnny’s question.

“Saturday!” Harry replied. “God, you and your short-term memory loss.”

“Probably from the drinking,” Louis muttered.

“Oh, shut up and take your muffin.”

“I don’t know if you can tell a customer to shut up.” Louis took his muffin anyway.

“I can if the customer isn’t on my side.”

Louis sighed, but turned to look at Johnny. “Fine. Don’t make Harry go have a wonderful time in Atlantic City. Just go to Philly if that’s what he so desires.”

“Thank you. I guess you can come back again tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“Fine.” Johnny pouted. “We’ll stay around here.”

“Finally,” Harry whispered.

Louis grinned. “Well now that the drama is over, I think I’ll head out now.”

“See you Friday.”

“Friday.”

\---

On Thursday night, Louis went over to his mom’s house for dinner. Finally living on his own was great, but after being in his mom’s house for so long, he still had to get used to the quiet that came with his new apartment.

“So how’s the new position treating you?” Jay asked.

The two of them were in the kitchen getting dinner ready.

“It’s really good,” Louis answered. He was standing at the counter slicing vegetables. “That guy Liam I was telling you about? We’re getting along fine now.”

“Of course you are. As if anyone could dislike you, Boo.”

Louis sighed at the childhood nickname, but continued on. “The apartment is working out well, too. The people who live above me are pretty quiet. They must work night shift or something because whenever I’m home from work, they’re either not there or moving around slowly. I don’t know. And the people on my floor are pretty friendly. At least, the ones I’ve met are.”

“That’s really good. You know I miss you around here, but I’m happy you have your own space.”

“And it’s less crowded here. Not that you can really tell…”

Jay laughed. “No, you really can’t. But Lottie and Fizzy are out most days, anyway, with school and work and, of course, being too cool to stay at home. So that helps a little.”

“Well, they’ll be out of your hair soon enough, too.”

“Nah, I doubt it. More so Fizzy, if I’m being honest. The other night she was talking about going for her Master’s degree. And maybe even a Ph.D. So she’ll be here for a while.”

At the mention of a Master’s degree, Louis immediately thought of Harry. He wondered if Harry would get along with his family.

_Well that’s a silly thought. Of course he would._

Louis smiled to himself at the thought of Harry interacting with his siblings. Maybe he could give Fizzy a run for her money. She had always been the smartest out of all of them.

“Lou?” Jay asked, waving a hand in his face.

That made him jump, because just a second ago, she had been across the room.

“Yeah?”

“Are you OK? You went really quiet there for a second, and then I just looked over and saw you smiling to yourself.”

Louis flushed, embarrassed at being caught. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Seemed like you were thinking about something nice.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Was it some _one_ nice?”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Mom…”

“What? Just asking a simple question. Don’t have to get so defensive…”

Louis chuckled. “None of your questions are ever simple, mom.”

“No, I guess not,” Jay said. “But that question had a simple answer, and it was one that you didn’t give, so…”

 _Damn it._ “Mom, there’s no one special.”

“OK. If you say so.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, you can talk about him if you want,” Jay continued.

“Mom!”

Jay chuckled. “I’m just teasing. If there’s no guy, then there’s no guy.”

Louis didn’t say anything, waiting for his mom to say something else. Luckily for him, though, she let the topic drop.

\---

Louis stood at the register on Friday morning, and honestly, he was a little confused.

Harry was there, getting his latte, but he was... off.

Like, his movements were choppy and he was quiet when Louis came up to order. He was keeping his eyes down toward the floor and accidentally hit all of the wrong buttons when typing Louis’ order into the register.

If Louis didn’t know any better, he would say that Harry was nervous. But that seemed impossible; Harry had never seemed anything but confident.

And yet…

Louis moved to the side, waiting for his coffee.

“Here you go,” Harry said a bit too loudly. He gave Louis his cup but didn’t immediately move back to the register.

“Thanks,” Louis replied. “Um, are you ok?”

“Can I have your number?” Harry blurted out.

Well Louis hadn’t been expecting that, but if this is what Harry had wanted to ask, then his behavior this morning made a lot of sense. “Uhh…”

“Shit, I meant to say that nicer. You can say ‘no.’ I won’t be like, offended or anything. I just think we get along really well and like, I like talking to you so I thought-”

“Do you have your phone?” Louis asked, interrupting Harry’s rant before he talked himself into a frenzy. Although, seeing Harry stumbling over himself was adorable, and Louis actually really liked seeing this side of him.

At Louis’ question, Harry’s face lit up. And then immediately fell.

“Oh, no, um, I forgot to put it in my pocket. It’s in the back.”

“No worries.” Louis pulled his phone out. He unlocked it, brought up his contacts and passed it over. “You can put it in.”

“That’s what she said,” Harry muttered as he took Louis’ phone.

Louis snorted, almost dropping his coffee. He watched Harry type in his number, his fingers going slowly over the keyboard. Harry looked very focused on putting his number in, so focused that the tip of his tongue was poking out of the side of his mouth.

God, he was so cute.

Harry checked that the number was correct before giving it back.

“Thanks, H.”

Harry just smiled.

“I have to go, but, I’ll talk to you later?” Louis held up his phone.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Louis winked at Harry, smiling when he blushed, and headed out of the shop.

Happy Friday to him.

\---

Louis didn’t know what he was thinking. If he thought it would somehow be easier to get past his crush on Harry by getting his number, he was absolutely wrong.

Now Louis was filled with thoughts of Harry at all times, because he talked to him  _all the time_.

They would talk while they were at work, while they were out with their friends or just relaxing at home.

Then Harry added him on SnapChat, an app that Louis quite honestly only used when he was out, so it would seem like he had more of a social life than he really did.

And that would’ve been fine if Harry wasn’t quite literally the cleverest, funniest, most perfect man he’d ever met.

Harry would tell him jokes and update him on his day, which now included stories of school and his practicum - working with a guidance counselor at an elementary school. 

He would send him pictures of himself in his professional clothes before his practicum or random bitmojis that Louis still couldn’t figure out how to send back.

And Harry was just so… wonderful.

Fuck him.

“Louis, are you listening?” he heard Zayn ask him.

“Yeah,” Louis muttered absentmindedly. He was texting Harry, because of course he was, and Harry had just responded to Louis’ earlier question about why he chose psychology as a major.

“Hey!” Louis protested when his phone was snatched out of his hand.

“You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you?” Zayn asked, keeping his phone out of reach.

And Louis really resented that. They were in  _his_ apartment, after all.

“Of course I have!”

“Oh, really? So do you think I should submit my painting to the Save the Tarantulas Foundation?”

“Uh, of course, Zayn,” Louis said. “You know I love everything you paint. They’d be lucky to have it.”

Zayn stared at him for a moment before shooting a hand out and smacking him on the arm.

“Ow!” Louis whined.

“You idiot, there’s no Save the Tarantulas Foundation. What do you actually think I do in my spare time?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh.’ Who has you so distracted?”

“Nobody!”

Zayn rolled his eyes. “Really? So you’ve just been giggling at your phone for the last ten minutes over nothing?”

“I don’t giggle.”

“Louis!”

“Fine. It’s just a guy.”

“A guy?” Zayn asked. “What guy? You haven’t mentioned a guy.”

“Because it’s not, like, a guy, like, one I’m dating. Just a new friend.”

“With benefits?”

“No, no benefits.”

“I’m confused,” Zayn said. “Since when do you make new friends?”

“Jesus. OK, his name is Harry, and he works at the coffee shop near my job.”

“And…?”

Louis shrugged. “No ‘and.’ I just see him every morning and he’s cool to talk to, so we got each other’s numbers a few days ago.”

Zayn raised an eyebrow. “And…?”

“And nothing! Why do you think there’s something?”

“Because you haven’t mentioned him yet. If he was just a friend, you would’ve mentioned him by now.”

“Because I just got his number a few days ago.”

“So?” Zayn asked. “You told me all about Liam the first day you worked with him.”

“It’s different. Liam annoyed me on my first day and I just needed to vent.”  

“And you want to sleep with Liam, right?”

“Ew, of course I don’t.”

“So you want to sleep with Harry, then?”

Louis hesitated. “Um, no!”

“A-ha!” Zayn yelled. “I knew it was different.”

“Zayn, shut up.”

“You have to tell me about him now.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Fine. I’ll just read your text messages,” Zayn threatened.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Of course I would. I know your passcode.”

“Zayn…” Louis warned.

But Zayn shot up off the couch and started punching numbers into Louis’ phone.

“Zayn!” Louis stood up, too, and the two of them started circling the coffee table.

“Oh, Harry, you’re so hot. I want to suck your dick,” Zayn said in a high voice, imitating Louis.

“You know I didn’t say that!” Louis snapped. “And that’s not how I sound!”

“Wow, Louis, you have to amp up your flirting game,” Zayn said, scrolling through his conversation.

“I’m not flirting!” Louis lunged for Zayn, but missed when Zayn stepped to the side and started walking in the other direction.

“I’ll say you’re not. Asking him why he wants to study psychology? You’re never gonna get laid like this.”

“Zayn! I’m not trying to get laid!”

“Of course you are. What’s he even look like, anyway?” Zayn asked calmly, scrolling more through Louis’ phone.

“I don’t have pictures of him on there.”

“Oh. So tell me, then.”

“If I tell you, will you give me my phone back?” Louis asked.

“I guess.”

Louis sighed. “Fine. He’s tall, like, pushing six feet, if he’s not that tall already. He’s got green eyes and brown hair that’s really curly. It’s down to his shoulders, just about.” As he spoke, his voice got just the slightest bit softer. “He’s really smart and funny and just, so handsome. And, he can joke back with me, even though it’s early in the morning and I’m usually pretty grumpy. But not with him. And he’s just great to talk to.”

“Wow,” Zayn said when Louis finished. “You’ve got it bad. It’s written all over your face.” But, as promised, he tossed Louis his phone back.

“Shut up,” Louis replied, with no actual bite in his voice.

“I have to meet this guy.”

“No, you don’t.”

“How will you stop me? I know where he works.”

Louis narrowed his gaze. “There’s like, four coffee shops on the same street as my job.”

Zayn shrugged. “I’ll figure it out. Plus, I have an idea of what he looks like, too.”

“You’re the worst friend in the world.”

They both sat back down on the couch.

“I think you mean ‘best.’”

“I know what I said.”

Zayn just laughed.

\---

On February 1, Louis walked into the shop and was surprised to see Harry standing behind the register wearing a sparkly gold tiara and a pink sash with writing on it that he couldn’t make out from where he stood.

So he got in line and grinned at Harry when he noticed Louis’ presence. When there were just two other people in front of Louis, he heard people saying ‘Happy Birthday,’ which, what?  _Today_ was Harry’s birthday?

“So ‘Happy Birthday,’ I guess?” Louis joked when it was his turn.

Harry blushed. “Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? You just said your birthday was  _coming up_ , not that it was so soon. Is it your birthday today, or was it yesterday?”

“No, it’s today. And it’s not really a big deal.”

“Of course it is! A birthday is always a reason to celebrate. You going out tonight?”

“Nah, not tonight,” Harry said. “I don’t want to go to the school tomorrow with a hangover.”

“Yeah, that might not be a good look, not with the kids and all.”

“Right. So I’m going out with some friends on Friday night.”

“That sounds fun! Where you headed?”

“Bar A? It’s over on-”

“South Street.” Louis cut in. “Yeah, I’ve been there plenty of times.”

“Oh! Well, you should come. Yeah, you should come. You know, um, if you want. It’s not going to be anything big, just a bunch of us hanging out.”

“That sounds awesome, but…” Louis said sadly. “I’m actually going over to my mom’s this weekend. We’re having a birthday party for my younger twin siblings on Saturday, and it’ll be easier to catch up with everybody if I go over on Friday.”

“Oh,” Harry said, trying to hide his disappointment. “Yeah, of course. I mean, of course you should spend time with your family. God, you’d be the worst brother in the world if you didn’t go this weekend.”

Louis smiled. “Yeah, I probably would be. But have some shots for me, OK?”

“I will. Yeah.”

“Cool.”

“Did you just want your usual today?”

“Yeah, that’d be great, Birthday Boy.”

Harry blushed again.

“You’re cute when you blush, you know,” Louis said.

Harry giggled. “Shut up.”

“You are. You’re almost as pink as your sash now.”

“Stop!” He had a huge smile on his face, though, so Louis knew he didn’t mean it.

“Sorry. Can’t help it.”

Harry shook his head bashfully. “You’re impossible.”

“Good impossible?”

“I guess. If that’s even a thing.”

Louis just smiled, absolutely sure that a beaming Harry was the best way to start the day.

\---

On Friday morning, Louis was disappointed that Harry wasn’t at the shop.

“He’s running late,” Perrie said, checking her phone even though she absolutely wasn’t supposed to. “He just texted me and said he’ll be here any minute.”

Louis nodded and checked his watch. He had a really important meeting in less than an hour and still needed to go over some things with Liam, though, so he really didn’t have the time to wait today, unlike any other day.

“OK. Um, I really have to go, though,” Louis said sadly. “Just tell Harry I said ‘hey’ and I hope he has fun tonight.”

Perrie nodded, but still looked out the door, hoping Harry would come bursting in that very second.

But it looked like luck wasn’t on his side, because Harry still wasn’t there, even as Louis left.

Or so it would seem, because Louis had only gotten just down the block before he heard Harry calling after him.

Louis stopped where he was so Harry could run up to him. “Hey! Thought I wasn’t going to see you today.”

“Yeah, I think I turned my alarm off instead of hitting ‘Snooze.’”

“Ahh. Yeah, been there.”

“Yeah.”

“Umm…” they both started at the same time, followed by chuckles.

“Well, have fun tonight,” Louis said.

“Thanks. I will. Have fun with your family, too.”

“I will.”

Louis didn’t know why he was being so awkward. It was just Harry, who he saw three mornings a week, and texted frequently enough that he should be past this weird stage.

It was just… Harry looked so cute just then. His curly hair was still a bit rumpled from sleeping on it, like he hadn’t been able to fully tame it before running out of the house. His lips and eyes were a bit puffier than usual and he just looked so cuddly in his coat, beanie and scarf.

Louis wanted to kiss him.

Which, OK, wasn’t a new thought, but usually he could restrain himself when he was actually in Harry’s presence.

“Louis?”

Harry’s voice broke Louis out of his daze.

“Yeah?”

“Are you OK?” Harry asked. “You kind of zoned out on me.”

Louis smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. You have, uh-”

Without asking, Louis reached out and brushed a curl out of Harry’s face, tucking it behind his ear.

He heard Harry’s breath hitch at the contact, and didn’t immediately move his hand away.

“Lou…” Harry said softly.

“Harry, can I kiss you?” Louis asked just as softly.

Harry’s eyes widened slightly, but he recovered quickly, and nodded.

Louis flattened his palm against Harry’s cheek, cupping it gently. He took a step forward and wrapped his arm around Harry’s waist – careful not to jostle his coffee cup as best as he could – holding him close.

He could hear Harry’s uneven breaths as he pressed his forehead against Louis’, like he was trying to believe this moment was real.

Louis felt Harry put his hands on his hips, and smiled as he tilted his head up, just enough to bring their lips together.

It was… wonderful, to say the least.

Harry’s lips were just the tiniest bit chapped from the cold, and warmed up as their mouths moved smoothly together.

Louis took another step forward, bringing himself impossibly closer, wanting to feel as much of Harry as he could in this moment. His hand moved from Harry’s cheek up and into his hair, feeling the curls around his fingers.

When he gently rubbed his fingertips against Harry’s scalp, he heard a soft moan come from behind Harry’s lips, and it only made him press up against Harry further.

A vibration from Louis’ pocket, followed closely by one from Harry’s, is what ultimately broke them apart.

They moved just enough away that they could reach in and grab their phones.

“It’s Perrie,” Harry said. “Asking how far away I am.”

“Yeah, Liam’s wondering the same thing,” Louis told him, reading the frantic message on his screen.

“I should get in there. I’ve made them worry enough as it is, I think.”

“Liam might have a stroke if I take any longer.”

They looked up at each other and smiled.

“Well, I’m off,” Harry said.

“Me, too. I meant it when I said have some shots for me tonight.”

Harry laughed. “I will.”

“Good. And, are you working Sunday?”

“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

“OK. I’ll try to stop in.”

“Really?” Harry beamed.

“Of course. Need to hear stories of your crazy evening.”

“OK. I’ll see you Sunday, then.”

“See you Sunday.”

Louis turned and headed down toward his office, trying to move a bit quicker so he wouldn’t be late. He was going to have a spring in his step for the rest of the day, though, so he wouldn’t be too upset even if he was.

\---

Liam raised an eyebrow at him when he got to the office.

“Good morning, Liam!” Louis greeted. He set his latte down at his desk and started to take off his coat.

After he hung it on the hook on the wall, he turned around to see Liam looking strangely confused, somehow more than usual.

“What’s wrong with you?” Liam asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re all… happy or something. I’m scared of what it means.”

“What do you think it means?”

Liam shrugged. “I don’t know. You let the elevator door shut on someone who was running for it? You tripped someone on the sidewalk? You put milk in Callahan’s coffee this morning?”

“Why would that matter?”

“He’s lactose intolerant!” Liam said, shocked that Louis didn’t know everything about one of their bosses.

“Oh. Well, no, none of these things. And we’ll talk later about how little faith you have in me as a person. I’m just happy. It’s Friday. We got paid today. It’s not mind-numbingly cold out for once. Isn’t that enough?”

Liam still looked skeptical, but let the subject drop.

“Want to go over what we’re saying today?”

Liam nodded, pulling out his color coded notecards.

Louis smiled. His distraction had worked, once again.

\---

That night, Louis was just dozing off on his mom’s couch when his phone started ringing.

Louis picked up the phone off the floor and squinted at the screen.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Hi, Louis!” Harry said excitedly.

“Hi, Harry. Are you having fun?”

“Yes! I love being old enough to drink!”

“Um, yeah, it’s a gift…”

“Do you know how good Fireball is, Louis?” Harry asked. “Do you know?”

“I’ve had it before; yes. Did you have some?”

“I did! I’m gonna reget- I mean, regert… Um, what’s the word?”

“Regret?”

“Yes!” Harry cheered. “I’m gonna regret it in the morning. I know it. See, you just get me!”

Louis chuckled. “Oh, this is fun. I haven’t gotten a drunk call in a while.”

“Oh, no!”

“What?”

“Am I bugging you?” Harry asked. “I’m sorry. You said to have fun tonight.”

“I know.”

“Oh, God!”

“What?”

“Were you sleeping? Wait, no.” Harry whispered it again. “Were you sleeping?”

“Why are  _you_ whispering?”

“I don’t want to wake up your family.”

“They can’t hear you, babe,” Louis told him.

There was a pause on the phone. “Did you just call me ‘babe’?”

“Yeah, I did,” Louis admitted easily.

There was another pause, and then, over all of the noise in the background, Louis heard the unmistakable sound of sniffling.

“Louis…”

“Harry, are you crying?” Louis asked.

“No!”

“Harry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I’m not crying!” Harry insisted tearfully.

Louis chuckled. “How much have you had?”

“I forget. Niall was buying drinks. It was a lot.”

“Clearly.”

“Harry, who are you talking to?” Louis heard in the background.

“Nobody.”

“Harry, who is it?” the voice asked again. It sounded like a girl.

“It’s Louis.”

“Oh, my God, Harry. Hang up.”

“No.”

“Harry, who’s that?” Louis asked.

“It’s my sister Gemma. She never lets me have any fun.”

“Harry, that’s a lie!” Gemma said. “Now hang up. Let the poor boy sleep.”

Louis wanted to laugh at being called ‘boy,’ but he wasn’t going to split hairs with a woman he’d never met.

“Fine.” Harry sounded like he was pouting.

“Harry, hang up,” Louis said. “I’ll see you on Sunday. And you can text me tomorrow if you want. Or, later today, I guess.”

“OK.”

“OK. Go have fun.”

“I was having fun talking to you,” Harry told him.

Louis smiled. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

“Sunday.”

“Tell Gemma I said ‘goodbye.’”

“Louis said ‘bye.’” Harry said immediately.

“Bye, Louis!” Gemma called.

“Bye, Gemma!” Louis said. “Bye, Harry.”

“Bye.”

Louis shook his head as he hung up and put his phone back down on the floor. He almost felt bad for Harry. He was going to have a wicked hangover in the morning.

\---

**_Louis: so how was your night last night?_ **

**_Harry: I’m never drinking again._ **

**_Louis: haha. ok._ **

**_Harry: no, I mean it. My head is killing me and my mouth feels like it’s full of cotton. And I don’t think I can move._ **

**_Louis: I’m sorry, babe._ **

**_Harry: babe?_ **

**_Louis: yeah. I said that last night, too. On the phone. You had a very emotional reaction._ **

**_Harry: OH MY GOD. I called you???_ **

**_Harry: I’m so sorry._ **

**_Louis: don’t be. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good drunk call. I almost forgot how fun they are._ **

**_Harry: yeah a lot of fun. I’m having a blast over here._ **

**_Louis: you’ll be ok._ **

**_Harry: I better. Otherwise someone else will have to serve you your coffee in the mornings._ **

**_Louis: I would be miserable_ **

**_Harry: I know. So you better pray for my speedy recovery._ **

**_Louis: you don’t have to work today do you?_ **

**_Harry: No, thank God. Jesy offered to cover for me._ **

**_Louis: good. Well rest up. I’ll see you tomorrow._ **

**_Harry: OK. I hope I didn’t say anything embarrassing last night._ **

**_Louis: um… no?_ **

**_Harry: fuck._ **

\---

When Louis walked into the coffee shop on Sunday, he was pleased to see that he’d missed the breakfast rush, and the place was clearing out.

He saw Harry at the counter, talking to someone with mostly brown hair. Clearly, his roots were growing in and taking over, as the tips of it still had a dull blonde color.

“Louis! Hey!” Harry called over, interrupting whatever his friend was saying.

As Louis approached them, he couldn’t help but notice the smirk Harry’s friend was sporting.

“Hey, how are you?” Louis asked Harry softly. To his friend, he offered a louder, “Hi, I’m Louis.”

Harry introduced them. “Louis, this is my friend Niall.”

“Hey, man, how’s it going?”

“Good, good,” Niall said. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard  _a lot_ about you.”

Harry cleared his throat. Loudly. 

Louis tried not to smile too much when Harry shot Niall a death stare, one which very clearly told Niall to shut up.

“Anyway…” Harry said when he was done sending his friend mental death threats, “Louis, do you want your usual?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Oh, actually, can I get a blueberry muffin instead of chocolate chip?”

“Sure. Coming right up.”

“So, Louis,” Niall said as Harry walked away, “Harry said you work in advertising?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I do. Just down the street actually.”

“Interesting. Did you always drink coffee or is that like, a new thing?”

“Niall!” Harry hissed.

“What?” Niall asked innocently. “Just getting to know your new friend.”

Louis grinned. He liked Niall.

“Shut up, anyway.” Harry brought over the latte and muffin and started to ring up the order.

“Fine. Anyway, Louis, we were actually just talking about Harry’s birthday on Friday night.”

Louis started taking out his wallet. “Oh yeah? How was it? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it, H.”

“It’s OK,” Harry said with a smile.

“He was invited?” Niall asked Harry. Louis thought it was supposed to come out as a whisper, but it most definitely didn’t.

Harry elbowed Niall in the side, sending him more glares.

“Sorry…” Niall turned to Louis and said, “it was a good time, though, Louis. Harry had a little too much fun with his drinks, though, if you catch my drift.”

Louis smiled, watching Harry blush. “Oh, I know. Harry told me all about it that night.”

“That night?” Niall asked. He whipped around and stared at Harry. “Where did you go that night? I thought you were at the bar with us.”

“He doesn’t mean like that, Niall,” Harry said. “He means I, um, drunk called him.”

Niall snorted. “Of course you did.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s a birthday,” Louis said, jumping to defend Harry. “You deserve to go out and have fun and get a little crazier than you would normally.”

“That’s what I said!” Harry told him. “Thank you for being on my side this time.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now, if you could just get that through to Niall, who won’t let me forget it.”

“Of course I won’t,” Niall said, laughing. “But at least you can say you rang in your 21st with a bang. Mine was boring compared to yours.”

Louis froze, the money to pay for his food still in his hand. Surely he can’t have heard that right.

“Excuse me?” he asked. “What did you say?”

“Harry’s 21st? Yeah, it was great. Mine was boring; we stupidly went to Atlantic City, but nobody else could drink or gamble because they weren’t old enough, so I did it all on my own.”

Louis felt his heart racing.  _Twenty-one._

“You’re 21?” Louis asked, needing the confirmation from Harry.

“Yeah,” Harry said, sounding confused. “Haven’t I mentioned that?”

“No…”

Niall shifted his weight from one foot to the other, clearly sensing the tension between them. 

“Louis, are you OK?” Harry asked.

“No!” he answered quickly. “I didn’t- I um-”

“Louis?”

Harry reached a hand out, but Louis jolted back from it. He tried to ignore the hurt look on Harry’s face.

“I have to go,” Louis blurted out. He dropped the money on the counter and turned around without his latte or muffin, just needing to get out of there before he passed out.

He pretended he didn’t hear Harry calling after him and made his way back to his apartment. He didn’t stop moving, or stop to even think, until he was safely inside and flopped down on his own couch.

Harry was 21. Twenty-one, and somehow Louis had missed it. He thought back to any time when Harry may have mentioned his age, but he was drawing a blank.

He remembered Johnny’s comment of ‘being older’ than they were for Niall’s birthday. Looking back on it, that made sense, but at the time, it just seemed like a passing statement.

Gemma had called him a ‘boy’ when she was trying to get Harry to hang up with him. Maybe she’d thought he was Harry’s age?

But he also remembered Harry saying he was a year away from finishing his Master’s degree. So somehow, his math for that had been horribly inaccurate.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he had a hunch of who it was before checking.

Sure enough, Harry’s name flashed on the screen. He opened the text to read what it said.

**_Harry: Louis, I’m so so sorry for how you left today. I feel really guilty. Did finding out my age really affect you that much? I could’ve sworn I’d mentioned it before. But it’s really not a big deal! I’m still the same person I was an hour ago. Really._ **

**_Harry: Niall said he’s sorry, too. He didn’t mean to scare you_ **

**_Harry: text me when you get this?_ **

_Not a big deal?_ Louis thought. How could Harry say that? It was a huge fucking deal. There were more than seven years between them. That was a pretty big age gap, if Louis did say so himself. His younger twin siblings were seven. Louis was in second grade when Harry was born. Harry probably still lived with his parents, and likely had another five years before he got kicked off their health insurance. In five years, Louis would be…

He shuddered. He didn’t want to think about how old he would be then.

But he had to do something.

Louis sat up and rubbed his eyes. He took a deep breath.

At least he hadn’t done anything with Harry. Sure, he had his number and they were friends on SnapChat and they flirted… a lot. And yeah, Louis had kissed him, but like, nothing big had happened. So this should be an easy break.

Not that it was a break, since Louis would see Harry at the shop all the time, and they weren’t together, so there was nothing to break  _from_. He would just tone down the flirting. No, he would eliminate it altogether. He and Harry would just be friendly with each other.

He would go to the coffee shop and get his order in the mornings. He and Harry would make small talk, and then Louis would go on his way. They wouldn’t text anymore.

There, problem solved.

Somewhere in his head was a voice screaming ‘problem not solved!’

Louis ignored it.

\---

_Louis pulled his car into the driveway behind his mom’s minivan._

_“Thank you for driving me,” Jay said from the passenger seat._

_They’d just gone to a doctor’s appointment so the babies in Jay’s belly could get checked out, and all was good with them so far._

_“Any time.”_

_The two of them got out of the car, and as Louis headed toward the house, he heard their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Turner, calling out a ‘Hello!’_

_Louis looked back and saw Mrs. Turner just locking her front door, and his mom walked over to the gate separating their yards._

_“Lois, how are you?” Jay asked._

_Mrs. Turner walked over, as well. “I’m fine, Jay, and how are you?”_

_Mrs. Turner had lived next to Louis’ family for as long as he could remember. She’d always been friendly, and was particularly kind during his mom and stepdad’s divorce._

_“I’m doing OK. You know, just carrying these ones around now.” Jay started patting her stomach, and Louis saw Mrs. Turner’s eyebrows raise._

_“Oh, my, well where have I been these last few months?” Mrs. Turner joked. “So things are going well with that handsome fellow who’s been around lately, I guess?”_

_Jay nodded happily. “Yes, very well. We’re very excited.”_

_“Good. Good. And, um, how far along are you?”_

_“Four months now. And it’s twins again, so two more babies to care for.”_

_Mrs. Turner nodded. “Right. Um, Jay, don’t take this the wrong way, but, um, don’t you think it’s a little late to be having more children?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“You know… you’re a little old for that. Shouldn’t you be settling down?”_

_Jay cleared her throat. “What I think is that you shouldn’t be telling me how to raise my family.”_

_“Oh, of course not! I would never do that. Just, I want everything to work out. And, of course you already know, but babies are a huge responsibility, and well, you know how fickle men can be about that. Especially when they’re..._ young _.”_

_“Oh, that’s what this is,” Jay said lowly._

_“I’m just looking out for you. I always have been.”_   _Mrs. Turner had the guts to actually reach a hand across the fence and pat Jay on the arm._

_Louis was surprised his mom didn’t rip it off._

_He heard them say ‘goodbye’ to each other and turn away from each other._

_Jay looked surprised that Louis was still there, but it only showed on her face for a second before she walked toward the house._

_When she had that look on her face, Louis knew better than to ask if she was OK. Instead, he just unlocked the door and held it open._

_“Thank you,” Jay said quietly. “I should start dinner.”_

_Louis nodded. He glanced back toward Mrs. Turner’s yard once more before shutting the door behind him._

\---

The next morning, Louis turned the corner of the street that the coffee shop was on.

 _OK,_ he thought to himself.  _Just walk in and get your coffee. Don’t make it weird._

But Louis felt his feet cemented to the ground. His heart was racing as he tried to amp himself up so that he could walk in, but he honestly felt like he was going to throw up.

_I can’t do this._

Louis turned and went back the way he came, taking the long way to work and going around the block so that he wouldn’t have to pass the store.

His heart rate returned to normal by the time he reached his building, but the guilt hadn’t vanished. Not at all.

\---

By lunchtime, Louis was really regretting not getting coffee. His head hurt, he couldn’t focus, and he’d been irritable with everyone, especially Liam, who had given up on getting Louis to tell him what was wrong an hour ago.

Louis took his lunch break alone for the first time in months, and went to the coffee kiosk in the lobby of his building.

While he was there, he bravely checked his phone, unsurprised to see three messages from Harry.

**_Harry: hey! Didn’t see you this morning. Is everything OK?_ **

**_Harry: you didn’t text me yesterday. Lou, I’m really sorry about what happened. I didn’t mean to mislead you or anything. I promise, I’m really an honest person._ **

**_Harry: just text me that you got this?_ **

Louis sighed. This was going to be hard. He texted a quick reply and silenced his phone again.

**_Louis: sorry, woke up late today. didn’t have time for coffee. see you Wednesday._ **

\---

The next morning, Louis went into the shop, like usual. Knowing Harry wouldn’t be there made it a lot easier.

He waited in line, pleased to see that Perrie was working. She called him up, and he gave his usual order.

“He was looking for you yesterday, you know,” Perrie said as she typed in the order.

“What?” Louis asked, even though he had heard her.

“I’m not getting involved. Just… saying.”

She gave him a friendly smile before turning to get his coffee.

Louis sighed and tried to make his feelings of guilt go away.

It didn’t work.

\---

On Wednesday, Louis held his head high as he walked into the coffee shop.

As usual, Harry was at one register, and another of his coworkers, Jesy, was at the other.

He hopped in line, and, fortunately – depending on how you looked at it – Harry called him over when he was next.

It was now or never.

“Hey, Harry,” Louis said brightly.

“Hi,” Harry replied quietly. “Um, how- how are you?”

Louis dropped his gaze for just a second. “I’m, uh… I’m OK.”

“OK. I didn’t know if, you know, if we were good. After the other day.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Louis saw Jesy glance over in their direction, waiting for the response.

“Oh. Right. Um, no we’re fine. Yeah…” He looked up at the menu above the register, as if he didn’t know exactly what was on it. “Um, can I just get a latte? And, I actually ate already, so I don’t need the muffin today.”

When he looked back at Harry, he found him already watching Louis, seemingly frozen.

“Um… Yeah,” he finally said softly. “Yeah.”

He turned around and Louis got his money out. When Harry returned a minute later, he gave him the cash wordlessly.

Harry typed something into the register, and the drawer popped out. Harry quickly made the change and handed it over.

“Thanks,” Louis said.

“I’ll see you on Friday?” Harry asked hopefully.

Louis hesitated. “Uh, yup. I’ll be here Friday.”

Harry nodded. “OK.”

With a smile, Louis took his drink and left the shop.

He got down the street before he had to stop. He let out a deep breath and leaned up against the side of the building he was outside of.

Yeah. Definitely going to be harder than he thought.

\---

Over the next week, his mornings went about the same. On the days that Harry wasn’t there, Louis was able to get in and out of the shop quickly. But on the days that he was there, it was… awkward, to say the least. Their conversations became shorter and shorter until they were barely anything more than the basic barista-customer interaction.

But the following Friday, nearly two weeks after the ‘incident,’ was when it got rough.

He walked in as usual and got in line. Customers were helped and moved along. Perrie called up the woman in front of Louis, and Harry was giving the couple at his register their orders.

Louis waited to be called over, but it never happened.

Once the couple had their drinks, Harry was suddenly busy behind the counter, wiping down the espresso machine and reorganizing mugs. He didn’t even look in Louis’ direction, but Louis was sure Harry had seen him come in.

But he waited patiently, sure that Harry would take his order soon.

“Next!”

But it wasn’t Harry calling him over; it was Perrie.

Louis glanced at Perrie before risking a look at Harry, who was ducked down behind the counter messing with something in a lower cabinet.

Louis sighed and went up to Perrie, giving her his order for the morning.

As she typed it into the register, Harry was suddenly available, jumping up to help the customer behind Louis.

Louis looked over to Harry when Perrie turned to make his latte, but Harry didn’t look his way at all.

And then it hit Louis. Harry was trying to avoid him. He couldn’t say he was surprised, but he still felt his heart clench in his chest at the realization.

“Here you go, Louis,” Perrie said, coming back. He swiped his card and typed in the pin for his order, risking another glance at Harry.

But Harry was still focused on the customer in front of him, and then went to get her coffee.

“Have a good one, Louis,” Perrie said after his payment went through.

“Yeah. Uh, you, too.” He put his card back in his wallet, grabbed his meal and headed for the exit.

As he pushed the door open, he looked back one more time. Harry glanced over at him before quickly turning his head away.

Louis sighed and headed for work.

\---

That day at work, Louis’ head was all over the place.

He knew it wasn’t fair of him to expect Harry to keep treating him the same way, especially since he knew Harry really liked him.

But, Louis did actually want to be friends with Harry, even if nothing could happen between them romantically. He knew he had to talk to Harry, though, and would’ve preferred it to be face-to-face.

“Louis!”

He jolted and looked up, looking at Liam, who looked frustrated.

“Have you been listening?” Liam asked.

“Of course I was listening.”

“So what do you propose we should do to fix the problem?”

“Um… Unplug the printer and plug it back in?” Louis suggested.

“What?”

“OK. I have no idea what you were saying. I’m sorry. I know I’m distracted today.”

“Yeah, you can say that again. What’s the matter?” Liam asked.

“Nothing.”

Liam sighed. He sat down in his desk chair and stared at Louis.

“Stop doing that; you know I hate that.”

Liam kept his gaze up, until Louis started to get fidgety.

“Liam…”

Louis tried to ignore his partner, who had realized early on that Louis didn’t like being stared at, so if he wanted to get any information out of him, he just had to watch Louis until he eventually told him what he wanted to know.

“Fuck you.”

Still, Liam said nothing.

Louis groaned. “Fine! It’s guy problems.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. What happened?”

“How old are you, Liam?” Louis asked instead of answering.

“Twenty-nine. Why?”

“If you met someone that you really liked, would age matter?”

Liam thought about the question, but after a moment, his eyes widened drastically. “Louis!”

“Not like that!” Louis shot back. “He’s perfectly legal! I swear!”

“Oh. OK.”

“So would age matter to you?” Louis asked.

“I suppose so; to a point, anyway.”

“Like, how young would you go?”

Liam thought it over. “Uh… I don’t know. Like, 24?”

Louis groaned and dropped his head in his hands.

“Why? How old is this guy you like?”

“Twenty-one,” Louis muttered.

“Sorry, how old?”

“Twenty-one,” Louis repeated, picking his head up. “His birthday was on the first.”

“Hang on. He’s 21, and you’re… what? Twenty-eight?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. Um… well, OK. That’s a, uh, that’s a gap.”

“No shit, Payno,” Louis huffed.

“Don’t get mad at me! At least he can go out drinking with you, I guess.”

“Oh, God!”

“What?” Liam asked.

“On his birthday, he drunk dialed me. That should’ve been my first sign. When was the last time one of your friends your own age drunk dialed you?”

Liam stayed silent, which just further proved Louis’ point.

“Anyway, he made a comment about being old enough to drink, and at the time, I thought it was kind of weird, but I didn’t think much of it. I mean, he was drunk; he didn’t know what he was saying. Now it makes more sense.”

“Did he give you any clues that he was 21? Or did he tell you anything about his age?”

Louis shook his head. “No, he didn’t. He’s told me about himself, of course, but the things he’s told me made me think he was older. Like, he’s in grad school. That would put him at least at 23, right?”

“Typically, yeah. Did he just start?”

“No, he said he’ll finish next year,” Louis answered. “I mean, it’s not like he outright lied to me. I don’t think I ever straight up asked him how old he was. But, he just seems so much more mature than a 21-year-old that it never occurred to me to ask.”

Liam nodded. “I mean, some 21-year-olds  _can_ be really mature. But, I don’t know, I think it would take some convincing for me to date someone that young.”

“Yeah, it’s the same for me, I think. It’s just got my head all scattered.”

“So, are you distracted because you don’t want to see him anymore? Or because you still do?”

Louis sighed. “I think that’s the issue. I don’t know.”

“Well, does he know how old you are?”

“I think so, yeah. I’m pretty sure I said it a while back when I was rambling about something.”

“As you do.”

Louis glared at him, and Liam just grinned in response.

“And does it bother him like it’s bothering you?” Liam asked.

“It doesn’t seem like it. And if he knew when I kissed him, then-”

“Wait, you kissed him?”

Louis groaned. “Yeah. Fuck.”

“You did that, too?”

“No! Just kissed. And it was only once, just before I found out.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Liam asked.

“I don’t know. I need to talk to him, I know that much. I just don’t know when. Or how.”

“Maybe just start by texting him?” Liam suggested. “Like, try to get some of the awkwardness out of the way?”

“Maybe. At this point, it can’t hurt.”

“You’ll get through it, man. Whichever way you want it to go.”

“Thanks.” Louis took a deep breath. “Um, why don’t you tell me about that problem we were having?”

“Oh, it’s nothing big. Just, the font on the print ads is too curvy for the company.”

“It’s- What? They asked for a cursive font,” Louis said. “What do you mean?”

“It’s  _too curvy_ , Louis,” Liam said. “That’s what they told us.”

Louis stared at Liam in disbelief, until finally he just burst into laughter. He heard Liam join in with him soon after, and could feel tears spilling down his cheeks.

“Oh, I needed that, Liam. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I mean, that’s seriously the problem, though.”

“No, I’m sure it is. It’s just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Liam held his hands up. “Welcome to advertising, man.”

Louis grinned. “Yeah. I’m just glad to be here.”

\---

That night, Louis sat on his couch in his apartment. He had his phone out, with a blank message to Harry on the screen. He’d been sitting there for at least fifteen minutes trying to figure out what to say.

Finally, he decided to just keep it simple, even if that was going to be difficult.

**_Louis: I’m sorry._ **

**_Louis: I really am. I’ve been a complete asshole this last two weeks, and I wish I could take it back because you really didn’t deserve that._ **

Louis waited a few minutes before attempting to come up with another message, but then the three little gray dots appeared on the screen, showing him that Harry was typing.

**_Harry: Go on._ **

Louis snorted. Well, Harry was responding, so that was a good sign.

**_Louis: I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. I’d rather apologize in person, though. Is there any way we can meet up? Maybe tomorrow. I can come by the shop if you’re working._ **

**_Harry: that would be nice. I can probably slip out for a few minutes if we’re not busy. Jesy and Cole are working with me, so they’ll be fine to cover._ **

**_Louis: OK. I’ll try to come by after the rush._ **

**_Harry: OK. I’ll see you tomorrow._ **

**_Louis: sounds good! =)_ **

Louis took a deep breath after sending the last text. OK, he’d done it. He made the first step.

Now he just had to get through tomorrow, talking to Harry. And he wasn’t sure how easily that would go.

\---

The next morning, Louis got to the shop a little before eleven. When he walked in, he was happy to see that it was mostly empty, so he could get this over with.

Jesy saw him first, and she elbowed Harry in the side to get his attention.

Harry looked at her first, before following her gaze over to the door, where Louis stood.

He waved at Harry and smiled when Harry looked happy to see him.

“I’ll be right back,” Harry told Jesy.

“Yeah, take your time,” she replied. “Hi, Louis!”

“Hey, Jesy!”

Harry approached Louis, looking nervous.

“Hey,” he said when he was just a foot away.

“Hey.”

“Um, do you want to go outside?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, that’s good.”

They walked out of the building and went into the alley right next to the shop, just to give the tiny illusion of privacy.

“So, how are you?” Harry asked quietly.

“Um, I’m good. Good, yeah. You?”

“I’m OK. I’ve been better, though.”

Louis took a deep breath.

“This isn’t going to go well, is it?” Harry wondered.

Louis closed his eyes and ducked his head. “Harry…”

“Louis, come  _on._ Don’t do this.”

“Harry, I’m not doing anything.”

“But you’re going to. Right? Some reason for why nothing can happen between us. Am I right?”

Louis opened his eyes, but still didn’t look up at Harry.

“I don’t understand,” Harry continued. “Is it really that I’m 21? Even though I’m the same guy you’ve always known, the same guy you’ve been flirting with for weeks, the same guy that you kissed.”

Louis looked up at that. “It’s different.”

“It’s not different.”

“Yes, Harry. It is. You’re 21.”

Harry sighed. “I just- It  _really_ bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yeah!” Louis told him. “My age doesn’t bother you?”

“No, actually. It doesn’t.”

“Harry, how can it not? I mean, I’m in my late twenties.”

“So?” Harry asked.

“I’m turning 29 this year. And then I’ll be turning thirty.”

“I’ll be 22 next year. And then 23 after that. That’s how aging works, Louis.”

“Harry…”

“What? I don’t get it. I mean, what’s different?” Harry asked. “Explain it to me. What’s changed? Why does me being 21 have to stop whatever we had going?”

“Because… I just- I thought you were older. But now, I don’t know.”

Harry sighed. “Well, how old did you think I was? It couldn’t have been that big of a difference.”

“I don’t know! Like, 24?”

Harry furrowed his brow. “Why did you think I was 24? Where did that come from?”

“Well, don’t think this is creepy-”

“A wonderful segue to any conversation.”

Louis laughed, even though he was really trying not to. “Um, well you said before that you were going for your Master’s in psych, right?”

“Right…”

“Well, I was curious about how old you might be, so I looked up how many years a Master’s takes, and a lot of schools said it takes an additional 2-3 years after your Bachelor’s. And you said you would be done next year. So, I figured if you graduated high school at 18 and got your Bachelor’s at 22, then you might be finishing the Master’s around 25. And if you were going to finish next year, then that would put you at 24 now.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“You really thought about this, then.”

“I did. I’m still trying to figure out how I was so off the mark, though.”

“Well, I guess I’ll tell you, since you’ve already done so much research,” Harry teased.

Louis nodded, wanting to hear this.

“Well, first off, I graduated high school a year early, at just 17. That should explain a little bit.”

“It helps.”

“And, I am in school to get my Master’s, but I’m in a special program that allows me to get my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in five years instead of the usual path you saw online. So, when I’m done next May, I’ll be 22.”

“How are you in a program like that?” Louis asked.

“Umm, well, I’m smart,” Harry said like it was an embarrassment.

“Yeah, no shit.”

“No, like really smart, if you believe in standardized tests and all that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I got a 2370 on my SATs, and tested above any and all placement tests my college gave me to determine what classes I should start in freshman year. I was sort of the highest testing freshman in the school’s history.”

Louis whistled lowly. “Wow.”

“Yeah. So they designed a special fast track program that would challenge me a bit more than the standard student to get both my degrees in five years as long as I completed it consecutively. So that’s how I’m younger than you thought.”

“Wow,” Louis repeated. “So you’re a super genius, huh?”

Harry blushed. “Kind of? I guess. But I’m still… me. I still laugh at dumb jokes and stay up too late and drink on the weekends.”

“With your college friends.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Louis…”

“Harry…”

“Why does it matter? Seriously, what do a few extra years have to do with us? You liked me when you thought I was 24.”

“I did, but, to be honest, I wasn’t fully comfortable with it then, either. I mean, at the time, I thought you were 23, so it was five years difference – in my mind, anyway. Then it was your birthday, and I started thinking maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be only four years apart for the rest of the year. But now that you’re 21… I mean, Harry you’re just a- Um…”

Harry crossed his arms. “A what?”

“You’re a kid, Harry.”

Harry’s gaze instantly hardened. “I’m not a kid, Louis.”

“Yes, you are, Harry.”

“I am not! How can you say that after all of the times we’ve talked and joked and flirted? You really think I’m just a kid? Did you think that when you asked to kiss me, too?”

“Harry, we’re seven years apart,” Louis said. “My younger sister is older than you.”

“OK, so we were all born in the same decade. Big deal.”

“We’re in completely different phases of our lives, Harry.”

“Are we, though?” Harry asked. “Because, if I recall correctly, and I know I do, you were the one who said he was barely an adult just… last month? And now you’re accusing me of the same thing? How are you so much more mature than me?”

“Because-”

“And yeah, I’m still in school, but it’s  _grad_ school. I’m not someone going to college on his parents’ money just taking basic liberal arts courses and getting drunk every other night. I’m getting an advanced degree sooner than other people in my field because of how capable I am. I have a job, and I work in a school, and I pay for my own things, so how are we in such different phases of life?”

Louis paused. “I’m just uncomfortable with it, OK?” he asked quietly. Then he tried, “it’s just a lot to take in.”

“Right. A fucking number.”

Louis stayed silent, not knowing what else to say.

“Can we at least still be friends?” Harry finally asked, after they were both quiet for just a bit too long. “I mean, I do still like talking to you.”

“Of course we can.”

“Can I still send you stupid SnapChats?”

Louis smiled. “I’d be offended if you didn’t.”

Harry just nodded.

Louis took a step forward and pulled Harry into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Not your fault you were born in the wrong year,” Harry replied.

Louis laughed and stepped back. He watched Harry closely to make sure he wasn’t going to get upset – or,  _more_ upset would’ve been more accurate, based on his quickly reddening eyes – and when it looked like he would be OK, said, “I should probably go.”

“Yeah, Jesy will be pissed at me for taking this long out here.”

Louis smiled. “I’ll talk to you later?”

Harry nodded. “Yup.”

“OK. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Louis turned and headed away from the building. As he turned the corner, he ignored every fiber in his being that said to run back to Harry when he heard him start to cry.

\---

“OK, what’s the emergency?” Zayn asked, sitting in the stool next to Louis at the bar.

Louis sighed. He picked up the shot gloss that sat in front of him and tossed it back. Then he looked over at Zayn, who sat quietly with an eyebrow raised.

“Harry’s 21,” Louis answered.

Zayn didn’t say anything for a moment, so Louis just took a long drag from the beer he’d already ordered.

“Harry’s 21,” Zayn finally said.

“Yup.”

“The Harry that you’ve been talking to? From the coffee shop?”

“Yup. And today, I told him nothing else was going to happen, even though he really wants something to happen. And I told him no. I’m a huge fucking asshole.”

Zayn reached over and put a hand on Louis’ shoulder. “You’re not a huge fucking asshole.”

“Did I mention that he started crying when I walked away?”

Zayn bit his lower lip. “I’ll buy you another drink.”

“Thank you.”

\---

That night, Louis got absolutely drunk.

The next morning, when he woke up, he felt like he was going to be sick. But, if he was being honest with himself, it probably had less to do with the alcohol and more to do with what happened the day before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me.


	2. Two

On Monday, Louis still felt like he was going to throw up, but now it had to do with the fact that he was just feet from Spill the Beans. He didn’t know if he should be here, or if he should totally fuck off and find a new coffee shop. Hell, maybe he should even start making his own coffee at home. It would save him a shitton of money.

But Harry had said that he wanted to stay friends, so maybe he should absolutely still be there?

The next five minutes would let him know, he guessed.

Louis took a deep breath and walked into the shop. There was a bit of a line, much to his dismay, not because he didn’t feel like waiting, but because he kind of wanted to get this over with.

He needed to know if Harry actually wanted to be friends or if he full-on hated him after having the weekend to think about everything that had happened.

His bet was on the latter, although, now that he thought of it, he wasn’t sure if Harry was capable of hating anyone.

He moved up a spot in line and thought about what he would say. He wanted to be as normal as possible, but if Harry was short with him, then he’d just keep his head down and keep it moving. Then he’d find a new coffee shop.

But if Harry was normal with him, cracking jokes and being his usual friendly self, then Louis knew that they’d get through this little… rough spot.

 _But,_ Louis thought to himself,  _if Harry ignores me again, then I’m definitely finding a new coffee place._

Louis didn’t even like the idea of the third one, but just like before, he wouldn’t blame Harry if that was his reaction.

He moved up another space in line.

He looked up at the registers and saw Harry and Perrie both filling orders. Harry looked like his usual chipper self, and Louis hoped he would save that reaction for Louis when he got up there.

The customer Harry was talking to said something funny, and Harry let out a loud laugh.

It was adorable.

He moved up one more spot, and then he was next.

He saw Perrie shoot him a curious glance, but she didn’t say anything. Louis assumed she - and probably all of Harry’s coworkers - knew what had happened, or at least had a vague idea. He hoped they would at least refrain from spitting in his coffee now and again.

“Next!” Harry called.

_This is it._

Louis stepped up, praying his anxiety wasn’t completely shining through.

“Hey, Lou,” Harry said happily. “How are you?”

“Um, good?”

Harry immediately noticed Louis’ hesitation. “You don’t sound too sure.”

“No, I’m- I’m good.”

“OK. Latte OK?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. And a chocolate chip muffin, too?”

“Sure thing,” Harry said. He turned around to prepare the latte, and Louis tried not to watch him, but of course he did.

Harry seemed perfectly at ease, not a bundle of nerves like Louis was. His movements were loose and relaxed, while Louis could feel the tension in his shoulders and was probably standing up too straight.

He tried to add a bit of a slouch to make him seem more casual, but he didn’t know if it was working.

Based on Perrie’s glance in his direction, he guessed it probably wasn’t.

“Lou, how was your weekend?” Harry asked, putting his latte on the counter.

“What?” Louis shook his head to make it look like he hadn’t completely zoned out.

“Your weekend? How was it?”

“Uh, it was fine, I guess.”

Harry looked at him from where he stood behind the pastry display case. “Louis, are you OK?”

“I’m OK, just…”

“What’s the matter?” Harry brought over his muffin and typed in the order.

“Are we? OK, I mean?” Louis gave him the money to cover his bill while we waited for the answer.

Harry sighed. He processed the order and, as he got Louis’ change, said, “We will be.” He looked up and added, “Is that OK? Can you… can you handle that?”

Louis nodded quickly. “Of course, Harry. I do still want to be your friend. I swear.”

“OK. Then we’ll get there.” Harry gave him his change.

“Thank you.”

They both knew he wasn’t talking about the money.

\---

Over the next few weeks, things got slowly back to normal. At first, they only talked in person.

But then Harry texted Louis one night in the middle of March, and Louis finally felt like he wasn’t walking on eggshells anymore.

**_Harry: do i look like a frog?_  ** **_  
_ ** ****

**_Louis: what?_ **

**_Harry: niall said i look like a frog when i smile without showing my teeth_ **

**_Harry: like my cheeks get too wide or something_ **

**_Louis: um, i don’t think so?_ **

**_Harry: that’s not helpful_ **

**_Harry: hang on i’m sending a picture_ **

**_Harry: tell me what you think_ **

Louis laughed when he saw that Harry sent an actual [photo](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bb/da/26/bbda267685cb07ca313e62c4d496b858.jpg) of himself.

He looked at it for just a second too long.

**_Louis: oh_ **

**_Harry: oh?_ **

**_Harry: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN_ **

**_Louis: i mean… i kinda see it_ **

**_Harry: you do not!_ **

**_Louis: i mean, it’s not like a bad thing?_ **

**_Harry: i’m not a frog_ **

**_Harry: take it back_ **

**_Louis: no_ **

**_Harry: TAKE IT BACK_ **

**_Louis: NO_ **

**_Harry: fine see who makes your coffee tomorrow_ **

**_Louis: tomorrow’s Thursday. You won’t be in anyway_ **

**_Harry: damn it_ **

**_Harry: niall’s laughing his ass off, btw_ **

**_Louis: hi niall!_ **

**_Harry: i won’t pass on your message_ **

**_Harry: he says hi, though_ **

**_Louis: hahahaha_ **

**_Louis: sorry for laughing, kermit_ **

**_Harry: LOUIS!_ **

**_Louis: sorry! You shouldn’t have pointed it out. Now i can’t unsee it_ **

**_Harry: awesome_ **

**_Harry: that’s what i wanted when i texted you. Really_ **

**_Louis: sorry?_ **

**_Harry: don’t lie_ **

**_Louis: i’m not lying. I am sorry_ **

**_Louis: that you look like a frog_ **

**_Harry: you’re the fucking worst_ **

\---

“Would you adopt a baby fox if you could?”

Louis frowned. “What?”

He and Zayn were at Bar A. Liam was supposed to be meeting them there any minute, and of course, Zayn had to bust out the bizarre questions early.

“Just wondering,” Zayn said casually, taking a sip of his drink.

“You can’t even have a dog in your apartment, and you want to get a fox?”

“Not for me. Besides, foxes are smaller than dogs.”

“Not all dogs, though,” Louis pointed out. “Have you seen those teacup yorkies? Those things are like, 10 ounces each.”

“They’re more than that!”

“Google it and find out,” Louis challenged.

“Fine.”

And just like that, Zayn pulled out his phone and looked it up.

“Ha! They’re 2-3 pounds, not 10 ounces.”

“Do you feel better now that you’ve looked up that meaningless fact?”

Zayn rolled his eyes.

“Don’t get a fox, Zayn.”

“I’m not!”

“OK… What do foxes even eat, anyway?”

“Well, they’re omnivores,” Zayn started, “so they eat fish if they’re close to water, and like, birds and mice if they’re not. But they also like berries and-” Zayn stopped talking and stared at Louis.

“That’s what I thought,” Louis said smugly.

“I’m not getting a fox.”

“OK.”

“Louis!”

Louis turned and saw Liam headed their way.

“Liam!” Louis stood up and gave Liam a quick hug. “Glad you could make it.”

“Thanks, man. Hey, I’m Liam,” he said to Zayn before sitting back down.

“Zayn. Nice to meet you. Louis’ told me a lot about you.”

“All bad, I’m guessing?” Liam joked, taking a seat next to Louis.

“At first it was, but you’ve definitely softened him up.”

“Aww, Louis.” Liam reached over and pinched Louis’ cheek.

“Really?” Louis grumbled as Zayn and Liam laughed. “This is already going well.”

“It is, actually,” Zayn said.

The bartender came over and asked Liam if he wanted anything to drink.

“Uh, just a Corona? Thanks, man,” Liam responded.

“So Liam, just out of curiosity, what made you go into advertising?” Zayn asked.

“Uhh, I guess I just liked being creative? Not in the way of like, drawing anything like, cartoons or stuff, but creating ads and promoting things is fun. But the longer I work there, the more I think I’m not as creative as I thought.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Yeah, don’t put yourself down, Li,” Louis added.

Liam thanked the bartender then, who dropped off his beer and left them alone again.

“It’s OK,” Liam said after taking a sip. “Zayn, have you seen how creative Louis is? More than me, I think.”

“Well, you do talk some shit about what should go in the print ads,” Louis said. “Someone has to reel you in.”

“So modest, Louis,” Zayn deadpanned.

“It’s true, though,” Liam continued. “Although, we can admit, Steve and Bebe are way more creative than both of us.”

“That’s true.”

“They’re the jingle writers, right?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, that’s them,” Liam told him. “I swear, they came up with a song for a toilet paper commercial the other day, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. I’m starting to think I’ve been buying the wrong brand my whole life.”

Louis and Zayn laughed, and Louis had to admit Liam had a point.

“So Zayn, what do you do?” Liam asked.

“I’m a website designer. Freelance, but I keep busy.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Now, Zayn actually is being modest here. He’s one of the top website designers in the country.”

“Really?” Liam asked. “That’s pretty impressive.”

“It’s OK.”

“Please. He actually just did an entire site in Urdu. Z, tell him about that one! Tell him!”

“Jesus, calm down,” Zayn said, trying to sound annoyed even though he was smiling at Louis’ excitement.

“Wait, what’s Urdu?” Liam asked.

“It’s the language my family and I speak. We’re Pakistani, and my grandparents actually still live over there, so it’s nice to be able to speak to them since they never learned proper English, you know?”

“So you’re bilingual? Sick.”

Zayn grinned. “Thanks. Um, but yeah, I designed a site for a hospital in Pakistan, and the website is in Urdu. But there are translations available, too, and important pages in English, as well. But it was nice to do that. I was so nervous that I messed something up, though, that I had my parents proofread everything to make sure my grammar was correct.”

“Well, yeah, you don’t want to mess up something like that. It’s understandable. Still impressive, though.”

“Thank you.”

The bartender came over. “Did you guys want food menus?”

All three of them nodded their heads, and he pulled menus out from under the bar.

“Just let me know when you’re ready to order,” he told them before walking away to help another customer.

“What should I order? I don’t think I’ve ever been here,” Liam said, looking at the appetizers.

“Lou and I come here all the time,” Zayn told him. “We started coming in college, and just kept coming.”

“Yeah, you two met in school, right?”

Louis nodded his head. “Yeah, Z and I had to take an Intro to Graphic Design class, even though we already knew everything. So we mostly just napped in the back of the classroom and worked together on all of our projects just so we could get finished sooner.”

“For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me,” Liam said.

“What? That I already knew everything?”

“No, that you napped during class.”

“Only because I already knew everything!”

“To be fair, when we say Intro class, it was really an Intro class,” Zayn said. “Like, alignment and color schemes.”

“Basically, how to make a website look like it’s from this decade, not one of those early 1995 sites with the rainbow font and awful pictures,” Louis finished.

“Got it,” Liam said. “OK, that makes sense, too.”

“Thank you.”

As they looked over the menu, Louis thought it would be a good time to ask, “Liam, would you get a pet fox if you could?”

Zayn sighed. “Louis, I’m not getting a fox.”

“You’re getting a fox?” Liam asked.

“No!”

“Wouldn’t a dog be less maintenance? Or even a cat?”

Louis laughed as Zayn started muttering under his breath.

“Or even a hamster? Or a fish?” Liam continued.

“I’m not getting a fox,” Zayn said. “I am looking for a less annoying best friend, though. Liam, you interested?”

“I might be.”

“God, you’re both annoying,” Louis said, rolling his eyes. “Who invited you two out?”

“You did,” they answered in unison.

“Oh. Well remind me not to do that ever again.”

“On the contrary,” Liam told him. “I think we’ll have to do this a lot more.”

“If Zayn brings his fox, then that’s fine.”

Zayn threw a balled up napkin at Louis.

Luckily for Louis, he knew how to dodge it.

\---

Louis sighed as he watched Harry’s SnapChat story again, thankful that the app wouldn’t tell Harry that he was replaying the entire thing. At least, he thought it wouldn't. He could never remember. 

“What are you sighing about?” Liam asked from his desk.

“Liam, did you ever go anywhere for Spring Break?”

Liam frowned. “Spring Break? I haven’t done anything for that in years.”

“Since like, college, right?”

“Yeah, wh-? Oh, is Harry on Spring Break right now?”

“Yeah,” Louis answered. “He and some of his friends are in Florida.”

“Lucky. This is probably a great week for it.”

Louis looked out the window, seeing a cloudless, blue sky. The weather this week had been pretty pleasant, so he imagined it was even better down in Florida.

“Yeah, it looks like he’s been having a great time.”

“You’re not creeping on his SnapChat, are you?” Liam asked knowingly.

“Of course not. Besides, it’s not creeping if we’re friends…”

“Louis…”

“What? Come on, just look at this picture!” Louis went back through Harry’s story, pulling up the one that had held his attention the longest. It was a selfie that Harry had taken. In it, he’d used the dog filter, and was just slightly pouting his lips. He had also angled the camera so that his bare chest was easily visible.

His very well-defined chest.

It was just unfair that he was that good-looking.

Liam looked at the picture, then back at Louis.

“Why are you showing me this?” Liam asked.

“Because you wanted to know what I was sighing about. That was it.”

“Really? Is it because he used the puppy filter?”

“Maybe. And he’s pouting. I can’t resist a good pout.”

“You throw pencils at me when I pout,” Liam pointed out.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to- Um…” Louis stopped himself, realizing he’d been about to finish that sentence with something that Liam might deem as inappropriate.

“You want to finish that sentence?”

“Not really, no.”

“Didn’t think so.”

Louis slumped down in his seat, trying to talk himself out of looking at Harry’s pictures again.

He failed.

\---

That same night, Harry sat on his bed in his and Niall’s hotel room, grinning to himself.

“Why do you have that look on your face?” Niall asked, coming out of the bathroom.

“Louis looked at my SnapStory,” Harry answered easily.

“So?”

“So, I may have been uploading shirtless pictures all day.”

“Why?”

“Because I knew he’d be looking... Is that dumb?”

“Well, no,” Niall told him. “I mean, considering you don’t want to be just friends. Honestly, and I know you don’t like the word ‘genius’ when it comes to you, Harry, but you definitely are an evil one.”

Harry laughed. “Thanks, Ni.”

“Just be careful, though,” Niall warned. “You know, since he  _does_ want to be just friends.”

“I know. Just… I don’t know. It feels good to be able to do  _something_ , you know what I mean?”

“Yeah. Just remember, there’s always going to be some things that are out of your control. This thing with Louis might wind up being one of them.”

Harry nodded and put his phone down. Of course, Harry had been hoping that Louis would change his mind, would make a huge declaration of love - or at least like - for Harry.

So far, it hadn’t happened yet, but Harry could keep hoping.

In the meantime, he still had pouty pictures to take. That would just have to do for now.

\---

The following weekend, Louis was on his couch, just dozing off when he heard his phone vibrate with a new text.

**_Harry: are you busy today_ **

**_Louis: no why?_ **

**_Harry: i need pizza_ **

**_Harry: i’m gonna go nuts. I have a test tomorrow and I can’t focus on anything._ **

**_Harry: look at this!_ **

Harry sent a picture of his desk, and Louis could see a few different textbooks scattered around, but right in front was a textbook that had a lot of things highlighted in it. It was making Louis anxious just looking at it.

Louis sent him back a picture, one where Louis’ sweatpants-clad legs were propped up on the sofa.

**_Louis: i mean, i’m not really dressed for pizza…_ **

**_Harry: ARE YOU KIDDING_ **

**_Louis: hahahahaha calm down, babe. Yes, pizza sounds great. Do you want me to meet you somewhere?_ **

**_Harry: please?_ **

**_Harry: we can do this pizza place by my house. I’ll text you the address_ **

**_Louis: ok. I’ll meet you there_ **

**_Harry: thank youuuuuuu_ **

With a sigh, Louis pulled himself off the couch to find some sneakers. He quickly checked the weather to see if he needed a jacket, and since the weather had finally started changing, heading more towards spring, he decided he didn’t.

He got his shoes on, grabbed his wallet and keys and headed for the door.

The drive to the pizza place wasn’t bad. There wasn’t much traffic, so he reached it in less than fifteen minutes.

Harry was already waiting out front when he got there.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“You sound annoyed,” Louis observed.

“Not annoyed. Just stressed.”

“I understand. I remember those days.”

They headed inside then.

“Those days,” Harry scoffed. “Because you were in college  _so_ long ago.”

“Well, it was six years ago that I graduated, so… yeah, it kind of was a long time ago.” Louis hummed. “Wow, it really doesn’t feel like six years ago.”

“Did you have fun in college?”

“Oh, yeah. Had a blast. I hated the actual ‘school’ part of it, you know, but I loved hanging out with my friends and living on my own temporarily. I had my own group of friends, Zayn being one of them, of course, and I still talk to some of them from time to time. But yeah, it was great.”

It was their turn to order, so Harry asked for an extra cheese pizza, half pepperoni, half pineapple.

“Pineapple.” Louis shook his head as Harry paid. “Ridiculous.”

“If you would actually try it…” Harry started to argue.

“No thank you. I like my pineapple cold and usually in a fruit salad of some sort, thank you very much.”

“OK. You’re missing out, though.”

They each got a soda, so they made their way to the dispensers. After they’d gotten their drinks, they found a booth near the window.

“So what’s your test about tomorrow?” Louis asked, taking a sip of his soda.

“It’s for my Counseling Children and Adolescents course. The test itself is on different intervention techniques, so it’s all short answer questions. Just like, the best thing to do in different situations, but it’s also protocols that you have to follow. And each situation you find yourself in has a slightly different set of rules that goes along with it, and I keep getting them confused.”

“That does sound like a lot.”

“It is,” Harry said. “And the topics range from minor disagreements on the school bus to suspicions of child abuse at home. It’s heavy, too.”

“You know you’re like, a saint for getting into this field.”

Harry smiled. “I wouldn’t say a saint.”

“I would. It takes a lot to work with kids and remain objective. I couldn’t do it. Like, if I thought a kid was being abused at home, I would probably cry. And then try to fight the parent.”

“You would not.”

“You don’t know me. I might.”

“I  _do_ know you,” Harry said, laughing. “And I know it would be tough to hold your tongue like that, but you would be strong enough to make sure the kid got the help he or she needed.”

“If it’s kids, then, yeah, I might. It would be tough, though.”

“I’m not saying it’s easy. But in this world, it’s very necessary.”

Louis nodded. “Which, again, makes you a saint.”

“If you insist… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So how’s work?”

“Eh, it’s all right,” Louis told him. “We’re probably getting another new client. We’ve been in meetings all week.”

“Anything good?”

“Uh, I think the strongest prospect is this outdoor company. Liam hopes we don’t get it, though.”

“Why?”

“Well his exact words were, ‘Louis, just because I’m a white guy with facial hair doesn’t mean I like hiking.’”

Harry started laughing. “What the hell is he talking about?”

“I don’t know. I think he likes taking on projects he can relate more to. And like, in a perfect world, we could go with only the things we liked. But it’s a job. I’m just excited to have more projects coming our way.”

“Exactly. And the better you do, the higher up you’ll go. Then you can pick the stuff you want.”

“Agreed. But I’m sure when the time comes, he’ll still be his usual obsessive self.”

“You love him,” Harry said. 

“I do not.”

“Yes you do. I’m sure he’s not as bad as you make him out to be.”

“He is,” Louis insisted.

“I think I need to meet him to make sure.”

“Well once you meet him, you’ll understand what I mean.”

“OK, Louis. Whatever you say.”

They continued talking about whatever came to mind, conversation flowing easily for another ten minutes, until their pizza was ready. Harry got up to get it and brought it back to the table, along with two paper plates.

“Oh, let me grab napkins,” Harry said.

Louis got a plate and carefully pulled a hot piece of pizza on to it. He did the same for Harry, getting a piece of his disgusting pineapple pizza onto a plate and sliding it to his side of the table. Louis was about to dig in to his slice when he heard something toward the front of the store.

“Harry! What’s up, man?”

Louis looked up to see a guy wearing a snapback and tank top - even though it was barely 60 degrees, but whatever - approach Harry.

“Hey, Dylan,” Harry greeted. “How’s it going?”

“It’s good, good,” Dylan said.

Louis tuned out the conversation then, not wanting to eavesdrop. But he also couldn’t pull his gaze away from the two men.

He thought Dylan was probably around the same age as Harry, just based on the way he was dressed and the way that he had a slight slouch to his posture. But they just looked so…  _different_.

Dylan appeared to be a typical college kid, wearing a peach shirt cut so low Louis could see his sides through the arm holes. And his voice was slightly raspy, giving off the frat boy ‘who the fuck cares?’ stereotype. Of course Louis didn’t know anything about him, so for all he knew, Dylan was a class act person who volunteered for charity every weekend, got straight A’s and never threw parties.

But based on his appearance, that wasn’t who he was. At all.

Harry on the other hand, dressed in his dark jeans, plain white long-sleeve shirt and boots, standing up perfectly straight with a hand full of napkins, looked more like he could be Dylan’s professor. Of course, Louis knew better than that, that Harry was also a typical college kid, but seeing them standing together… Louis didn’t know what to think about it.

“So you’re here with your boyfriend?”

The question pulled Louis out of his daze quickly enough to see the look of panic flash across Harry’s face.

“Um, what?” Harry stuttered.

“Over there.” Without shame, Dylan looked right at Louis, giving him a relaxed smile.

Louis waved at him, but didn’t make any other moves.

“Oh, uh, no, that’s just my friend,” Harry said. He shot Louis a nervous smile.

“Oh. Oh, sorry, I just thought… You know, you two looked pretty close.”

“No, no. Just friends.”

Louis saw Dylan raise an eyebrow. Then he said, “Got it.”

“Yeah. Um, I should get back,” Harry said, stepping away.

“Cool. I’ll see you around campus.”

“Sounds good.”

Harry returned to the table with his head ducked, clearly nervous about Louis’ reaction.

So he kept it light.

“Friend of yours?” Louis asked.

“Sort of. Um, I tutored him last semester.”

“Yeah? In psych?”

“No, History 1,” Harry said.

“God, I was awful at history. I always got my dates mixed up and my civilizations confused.”

“Really? You were bad at history? But, haven’t you lived it?” Harry teased.

He lifted his slice of pizza up to his lips and slyly glanced up at Louis as he did.

“Oh, you think you’re funny? Making fun of the old man at the table? You’re a regular comedian.”

Harry took a bite of his pizza, but smiled nonetheless.

“You were probably good at art, then,” Louis started. “You know, since you’re probably a fan of coloring and fingerpainting.”

Harry tore off a piece of his crust and threw it at Louis.

“Oh, and food fights, too?”

“Shut up!” Harry laughed and covered his reddening face with his hand that wasn’t holding his pizza.

“You started it,” Louis said.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” Harry peeked out from behind his fingers, but he was still giggling, so Louis knew he was OK.

\---

“We already have the billboard space ready at these locations,” Liam said, handing a list over to the owners of the jewelry company they’d been working for.

“Those will go up on the first of the month,” Louis added. “In addition to the magazine ads, which will be either the blue background with the silver Kensington bracelet or the green background with the gold Marcus necklace.”

“And what about the television advertising?” the owner, Mr. Randall, asked.

“We have that ready to go, as well,” Liam replied. “We sent over a copy a few days ago. Were you able to preview it?”

“I saw it. The music that was created for it really sets the mood of it, as well. Give my compliments to the composer.”

“That was Mr. Aoki, sir, and we will,” Louis told him.

He glanced over to Logan, who was watching everything go down from his seat at the head of the table. Louis thought he looked pleased with the meeting.

Mr. Randall looked at his lawyer, who just gave a simple nod. Then he turned to his wife, also the co-owner who had the final say over everything, for any critique.

Louis and Liam waited with bated breath for Mrs. Randall’s opinion.

The room was silent as she looked over the mockups of the ads they had displayed on easels at their side of the table and the designs in front of her.

Finally, she simply said, “I like it.”

Louis exhaled, hearing Liam do the same beside him.

“You said the first, correct?” Mrs. Randall asked.

“That’s right, ma’am,” Louis answered. “The first.”

“Wonderful. I’ll be looking out for the billboards.”

With that, she stood up, and her husband and their lawyer rushed to follow.

“Have a good day, gentlemen,” Mr. Randall said, shaking each of their hands.

“You do the same,” Liam told him.

The Randalls and their lawyer left the conference room and Louis and Liam glanced over at Logan to see his reaction.

“Well done, boys,” he said.

“Really?” they both asked.

“Of course. Clients are happy, I’m happy.”

“Thank you, sir,” Liam told him. Louis nodded in agreement.

“Why don’t you boys take the rest of the day off?”

Louis felt his jaw drop.

“Sir? Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Logan scoffed. “You’ve been working hard. It’s Friday. Go ahead. Take the day and come back refreshed on Monday.”

“Thank you so much, sir,” Louis told him.

“Don’t mention it. Just pack this all up first.” Logan winked and headed for the door.

“Have a good weekend!” Liam called after him.

“You two are still here?” Logan joked. “Get out of here.”

And then he was gone.

“Holy shit, it’s like, eleven o’clock,” Louis said.

“I know. What do I do with all of this free time?”

“Let’s get everything cleaned up before he changes his mind. Or Callahan comes in and asks us to do something.”

Liam quickly agreed. They put away the easels for whoever needed them next and brought their designs and notecards back to their office.

“I’ll see you Monday, Lou,” Liam said as he pulled on his jacket once everything was put away.

“See you, Payno.”

Once Liam left, Louis put his own jacket on and made sure he had everything before leaving the office.

“Wallet. Phone. Keys,” he whispered to himself. “OK. Let’s go.”

Louis headed for the elevator, feeling the jealous stares of some of his coworkers who were stuck at the office for another six hours.

As he rode down to the lobby, Louis thought about what he could do with all of his free time. He needed to go grocery shopping, and his laundry had been piling up. He had some credit card bills he needed to pay, as well, and he’d been meaning to call his dentist and make an appointment for a cleaning. As he headed toward his car, though, he decided to text Harry and see what he was doing.

**_Louis: what does one do at 11:15 on a friday afternoon?_ **

**_Harry: ???_ **

**_Louis: haha. Thompson sent me and Liam home early because we kicked ass in our meeting with the Randalls. And now I have all of this free time. It’s confusing._ **

**_Harry: lol. Got it. I mean, if you want, you can figure out a way to study for my tests for me_ **

**_Louis: ouch. How many_ **

**_Harry: I have two on Monday and one on Wednesday. I’ll be studying all weekend, probably._ **

**_Louis: ew. Well if you need a distraction, let me know. We can get more pizza or see a movie or something._ **

**_Harry: i’ll keep that in mind. And I’ll probably take you up on it so keep your phone handy._ **

**_Louis: will do. Good luck_ **

**_Harry: thanks_ **

**_Harry: have a good rest of the day off_ **

**_Louis: thanks_ **

Louis pocketed his phone and got in his car, figuring he might as well make the most of the situation and get some errands done. But first: a nap.

\---

The following week, Louis stared at the clock in his office. It was 5:29 on Friday, meaning there was just one minute left until he was done for the day.

He glanced over at Liam’s desk to find his partner doing the same thing he was: watching the time on his computer screen.

It had been a long week. After putting the finishing touches on the campaign for the Randalls, they’d worked closely with Steve and Bebe, who had decided to make a last minute change to the jingle for the television ads. All of that in between final meetings for new clients had the boys wiped out.

When Louis looked back to his computer, it was 5:30.

He told that to Liam, who then shot up out of his seat.

Louis watched amusedly as Liam shut down his computer and then went to grab his jacket from the hook by his door.

“Eager to head home?” Louis asked, as he followed the same steps.

“Just want to relax for once this week.”

Louis nodded, silently agreeing. “Well at least we have tomorrow night, right?”

Louis, Liam and a few other executives had plans to go to Bar A the following evening, just because they hadn’t been able to go out in a while.

“Absolutely,” Liam said. “And you know what? To get really ready for tomorrow, I think I’ll go to bed early tonight.”

Louis chuckled as Liam headed out the door. “Sounds like a good idea, Payno.”

“See you tomorrow, man.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Louis looked around the office one last time before heading out the door.

As he got into the elevator, he realized he wasn’t as eager to relax as Liam was. He thought maybe he’d call up Zayn and see what he was doing. Or maybe…

Louis had a good idea.

When he got out of the elevator, he sent out a quick text.

**_Louis: what are you up to tonight?_ **

\---

And that was how, an hour later, Louis found himself running around his apartment attempting to make it look less unorganized than it usually was.

Harry would be arriving any minute with Chinese food so the two of them could hang out. And it would be Harry’s first time there.

Louis wasn’t a complete and total slob, of course, but the apartment was a bit…  _lived-in_. When Louis had arrived home, he suddenly remembered the pile of laundry sitting on the couch that he’d meant to fold, a Target bag of shampoo and conditioner he’d bought a few days ago - but hadn’t managed to put away yet - still in the hallway and dishes from that morning’s breakfast still in the sink.

He hadn’t taken that into consideration when he invited Harry over.

Oops.

So after taking a quick shower and changing into something a bit more comfortable - no, not  _that_ kind of comfortable - he’d hurriedly cleaned up a bit.

He hoped his hair didn’t look frizzy from his rushing around.

Just before seven, when Louis had just finished putting everything away, he heard a knock at the door.

“Shit,” Louis whispered.

He closed his bedroom door to hide the mess in there and looked around the living room, making sure there wasn’t anything else he had to kick under the couch.

Then he went to let Harry in.

“Hey!” Louis greeted when he opened the door. “Come on in.”

“Thanks.” Harry walked in and looked around the room. “Nice place you got here.”

“Thank you. We can put the food in the kitchen. I took some plates out.”

The two of them went to the kitchen and started scooping out servings of lo mein, rice, vegetables and egg rolls onto their individual plates.

“You thirsty?” Louis asked. “I have beer, wine, sodas…”

“Um, just water, honestly. Chinese food usually makes me bloated,” Harry admitted.

“Got it. I’ll bring out your glass if you take my food?”

“Deal.”

Harry took Louis’ plate in his free hand and headed back to the living room. Louis went into the cabinet and took out two glasses, filling them both with water.

When he got to the living room, he found Harry staring at a family picture Louis had hung on the wall. It was the annual Christmas photo, so Louis, all of his siblings and his mom and stepdad were all in it.

“Ahh, you found the Tomlinson/Deakin Christmas picture, huh?”

His voice scared Harry a bit, it seemed, as he visibly jumped. “What?”

“My family photo?”

“Yeah, um, yeah, those are your sisters?”

“And brother, yeah. That’s my mom Jay and my stepdad, Dan. The young kids are Doris and Ernest. They just turned eight, actually, a week after your birthday. Um, these two skinny divas are Phoebe and Daisy, the first set of twins. The blonde is Lottie, who’s my oldest sister, and the brunette who looks like a clone of my mom is Fizzy.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” He looked at Harry again. “You OK?”

“Yeah. Yeah, um, just surprised me how much your sisters look like your mom. It’s crazy.”

“Oh, definitely. They get that a lot.”

They sat down on the couch and got comfortable.

“Thanks for coming over,” Louis said, digging into his food.

“Oh, you’re welcome. I wasn’t doing anything, anyway.”

“Wow, thanks. I’m really feeling the love over here.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I guess. I’m surprised, though. No plans on a Friday night?”

Harry shrugged. “Nah. I’m usually just tired on Fridays, and I have to get up early for work, so I just stay in.”

“Wow, you sound like such an old man.”

“Well, you know what they say: age is just a number.” Harry glanced over at Louis for just a second before taking a big bite of the noodles on his plate.

Louis sighed. “Yeah, I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you kind of did.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s OK.”

“So how was your week?” Louis asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Great. I actually made progress with one of my kids in school.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Well,” Harry started, “there’s this one girl that we’ve been working with. She’s pretty rough around the edges. And she’s pretty sassy, so she gets herself into trouble because she usually can’t bite her tongue.”

“Sounds like someone I know,” Louis joked.

Harry just smiled at him. “And she’s very, um, well not closed off, because she’ll talk to the counselor, but he’s not convinced she’s always telling him the truth. You know what I mean? So she’ll answer questions, but not totally honestly. Like, she always has her version of events.”  

“Got it,” Louis said.

“But, what was happening was she wouldn’t answer questions when I was there. Or, if she did, it would be one-word answers. We figured it was because she didn’t trust me. But yesterday, he asked her a question. And she kind of looked at me, like she was waiting to see what I would do. But then she answered the question! Of course it was a complete lie because we had another teacher who told us that she called someone else a name, but she still answered the question!”

“That’s awesome, though. So she trusts you?”

“At least on a basic level, she does. I’m not expecting any high fives or hugs any time soon, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I’m happy for you, H.”

“Thanks.” Harry grinned. “You know, this is why I went into this field, you know? To reach kids that other people label as ‘closed-off’ or ‘out of touch,’ or whatever. I want to be there for the ones that others have given up on.”

Louis was too mesmerized by the look on Harry’s face, the way his eyes were lit up and his dimples were showing because of how hard he was smiling, to say anything else but “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Harry replied. Then he sighed. “But anyway, that’s how my week was.”

“Well it was a good week.”

“How was yours?”

“It was good. We wound up signing that outdoors company, much to Liam’s distress.”

Harry laughed. “Poor guy.”

“I know. He started looking up different hiking trails yesterday, thinking if he maybe hiked somewhere, it would put him in a better mindset for advertising.”

“He didn’t.”

“He really did. He’s trying to make me go, too.”

“I would pay to see that. Do you even own hiking boots?”

“I thought you knew me  _so_ well,” Louis teased.

“I do. Which is why I know you don’t even know where to  _buy_ a good pair of hiking boots.”

Louis hesitated. “I don’t like you.”

Harry laughed again. “So are you going to actually go hiking?”

“I really don’t want to. I’m hoping he’ll take walking in the park as a close enough compromise. Although, there’s this park near my mom’s house that has some walking trails. They go through some woods and everything. Maybe I can convince him to go there.”

“That seems OK. And probably not as dangerous.”

“Exactly. I’m all for safety.”

“And convenience.”

“And not having to buy hiking boots.”

“What a tough life you lead,” Harry joked.

“Yeah, it’s just brutal. How will I survive?”

“Probably by not going hiking.”

Louis snorted. “You got a point there.”

They finished up their food soon after that, and dropped their plates to Louis’ coffee table.

“God, I’m full,” Harry said, rubbing his stomach. “It hit the spot, though.”

“Agreed.” Louis picked up the television remote and started flicking through channels, looking for anything to watch.

“Are you in the mood for anything?” Louis asked. “Movie? TV show?”

“I’m not going to last long for anything you put on,” Harry admitted. “I’m exhausted.”

“Oh. Sorry, is it past your bedtime?”

Harry chuckled. “No. Just tired. Didn’t we just talk about this?”

“Yeah, and the stomach full of Chinese food probably isn’t helping, huh?”

“Not at all.”

Louis settled into the couch and finally decided to just leave on a rerun of  _Friends_.

Once he was comfortable, he patted the space next to him, and Harry moved over so he was closer. He rested his head on Louis’ shoulder, and as Louis watched the episode, the one where Ross and Joey napped together, he felt better about the situation.

 _See? Friends can nap together_ , he thought to himself. He held on to that thought as both of them soon fell asleep.

\---

The music in the club pulsed through Louis’ body as he and Bebe jumped around on the dance floor. The beat had just dropped on a remix of some random pop song, and the crowd was going nuts. There were bodies all around him and all Louis could think about was how  _hot_ it was.

Of course, he was also thinking about how much fun he was having, but still. It was hot.

He took Bebe’s hand in his and spun her in a circle before pulling her flush against him, her back to his front. She dropped her head back onto his shoulder and they danced together for the rest of the song.

When the song changed, Bebe said, “I need a drink.”

Louis nodded and followed her to the bar where their friends were. Out with Louis tonight were Bebe, Liam and Steve, Jade and Leigh-Anne from the floor below Louis, as well as Mike and Rob, two guys who Louis worked with before he got his promotion.

“Two waters and two green tea shots,” Bebe ordered, not bothering to ask what Louis wanted.

“Ooh, those are dangerous,” Jade warned.

“Yeah, I’ve had some crazy nights because of those,” Leigh-Anne agreed.

“Well, we’ll balance it out with the water,” Bebe joked. “You know, the tiny cups they give you that’s mostly ice anyway.”

Their drinks came then, and Bebe tipped the bartender.

“To a great night out,” Louis said, raising his shot glass.

“Cheers.”

The two of them took their shots and then grabbed their water cups.

“Hey, where’s Steve?” Bebe wondered, looking around.

“And Liam?” Louis asked.

“I think they went to the DJ to make a request,” Rob answered.

“You can do that?”

“Technically, I don’t think so,” Mike said. “But Steve said he thought he knew him, so he was going to go ask.”

Bebe nodded. “Of course Steve knows the DJ. He knows everybody.”

Just as Rob was going to say something, Liam came rushing over.

“Guys, Steve’s about to DJ!” he said excitedly.

“What?” they all asked.

“He’s about to DJ!”

“Hey, everybody,” Steve’s voice rang out over the speakers.

They all looked toward the DJ booth, and sure enough, Steve was standing at the controls.

“So, I’m Steve. I write songs for a living, and sometimes I remix them. Here’s one I’ve been working on, so I hope you like it.”

The crowd waited eagerly as Steve put on his headphones and started the [track](https://youtu.be/kTlv5_Bs8aw?t=29s).

The music started playing, and Louis already saw some people bobbing their heads along. Louis remembered hearing Steve mention this before. It was a remix of a K-Pop song, and he’d been working on it for a while now.

As the song continued, people on the dance floor started moving to the beat of the song, and everyone looked like they were enjoying it. Louis’ coworkers were jamming to it, as well.

Louis wasn’t a huge fan of the genre, but with Steve’s version, he could admit it was pretty damn good. Even he was swaying to the beat by the time it ended.

“Thanks, everybody!” Steve said to the audience as the song faded out and into the next song on the DJ’s playlist.

Everybody cheered for him as he left the booth and headed toward them. They all congratulated him on a job well done.

“That was awesome!” Louis said.

“Look at you, acting like a hotshot DJ,” Mike joked.

“Thanks guys.”

“So how often do you do random DJ spots?” Jade asked.

“Not that often,” Steve answered. “Only if I know the DJs already playing. And, well, I know a lot of DJs.”

“Well I’m impressed,” Liam told him.

“I think this calls for more shots!” Bebe said.

“I’m never one to turn that down,” Rob agreed.

Bebe bent over the counter and ordered another round for all of them. When they came, she gave everyone a glass and raised hers.

“To multi-talented coworkers!” Bebe said.

“Cheers!”

They all clinked their shot glasses together and took the shot.

“All right,” Leigh-Anne said after finishing. “I think I’ve officially had enough to get on the dance floor.”

Bebe grinned. “That’s what I like to hear! Come on!” She grabbed Leigh-Anne’s hand and started pulling her toward the dance floor. Then she took Louis’ hand, as well. “And you, too!”

Louis fought for just a second, wanting to drink the rest of the water that was left in his cup.

“OK, I’m coming!” He grabbed Liam’s hand, too. “Let’s go, Payno!”

Despite Liam’s protests, Louis got him out on the floor, and they formed a circle. Louis felt himself loosen completely up. It was a little while before the rest of his friends joined them, and that’s when Louis really let himself go.

To the beat of the song, he backed up toward Liam, grinding against him when he was close enough. He heard Liam laugh loudly over the music, and Louis laughed right along with him.

“There you go, Payno! I knew you had moves!”

Liam shook his head and rolled his eyes before taking a big sip of his drink.

As he moved away from Liam, he looked toward the bar, making eye contact with a rather attractive guy. His blonde hair and blue eyes drew him in, but after staring for just a second too long, Louis realized it didn’t hold his interest past a basic once-over.

He looked away and turned his attention back to his friends.

Unfortunately, Bebe noticed the guy watching Louis, too, and pointed it out.

“Hot guy checking you out,” she said.

“Yeah…” Louis trailed off. “Yeah, he’s not really my type.”

Bebe’s jaw dropped. “Blonde hair and blue eyes? That’s like, everyone’s type!”

“Nah. Not mine.”

Bebe shook her head. “Suit yourself.”

Louis didn’t dare look back at the guy again, in case he took it as a sign that he was interested. Because yeah, Louis could tell just by looking at him: he definitely wasn’t Louis’ type.

\---

“So guess what?” Harry asked Louis at the coffee shop one morning in the second week of May.

“What?”

“Well, I have one more final on Friday, and then my semester is over!”

“Wow. How do you feel?” Louis asked.

“Tired. But excited, too.”

“That’s awesome. Are you going out to celebrate or anything?”

“I don’t know,” Harry answered, putting Louis’ coffee on the counter. “I mean, Niall is of course trying to get us all to go out. A few people are going, but I don’t know. I’m so drained I want to just sleep all weekend.”

Louis grabbed his cup. “So sleep all weekend. If you want, we can do something next weekend. Like, go see a movie and get pizza.”

“Sounds great to me.”

“Cool. Well I have to head out, but just let me know what you want to do. Whatever you want.”

“You’re awesome, you know that?”

“Of course I do,” Louis said easily. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later.”

\---

The following Saturday, Harry and Louis went to the movies and out for pizza, as promised.

As they sat in their booth, waiting for their order to be ready, Harry said, “OK, so, there may be another reason why I wanted to hang out today…”

“I knew it. I knew you had to have some sort of ulterior motive.”

“Yeah, you caught me. Up to no good, as usual.”

Louis grinned. “What’s up?”

“OK, so, my parents are going out of town next weekend, so I’m having some people over,” Harry said.

Louis snorted.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard that sentence.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re so grown up and all of your friends live on their own, you’re such an adult, blah blah blah. Anyway, you should come.”

Louis wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, I don’t know…”

“Louis, come on. You’ll know, like, half the people there. Niall’s coming, and Johnny, Perrie, Jesy… Everyone from the shop. And then some people I know from school.”

“So people like Dylan?”

“Yes, but people that I’m in classes with. So, they’ll be more mature and you won’t feel like you’re drinking with college kids.”

“Oh, god, college kids,” Louis groaned.

“Hey, I’m a college kid.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Louis, whatever you’re about to say: don’t. Just, come. Please? You can bring Zayn. And Liam.”

Louis sighed, and unfortunately for him, Harry noticed and immediately jutted out his lower lip, sending a pout his way.

“Oh, don’t do that!” Louis groaned and looked away. “Fuck. Fine, what night?”

“Next Saturday!” Harry answered excitedly.

“I’ll talk to Liam and Zayn and if they can come, then I’ll be there.”

“That’s fair.”

“What do you kids even  _do_ at parties these days?” Louis joked.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Us kids usually drink and play card games. Someone will probably bring over the Nintendo Switch and we’ll play Mario Kart, and I’m sure someone will be playing Pokemon Go. Probably Jesy, honestly.”

Louis’ eyes lit up at the mention of Mario Kart. “Really?”

“Oh, did I say something that you have in common with the young’uns?” Harry teased.

Louis laughed. “Yeah, I guess you did.”

“Well I’m glad you’re coming. It’ll be fun.”

“I haven’t agreed to coming yet.”

“I know. But you are.”

“We’ll see,” Louis said.

Harry just nodded. “OK.”

\---

Louis didn’t know if it was a good thing or not that Liam and Zayn were both free the following Saturday night.

Either way, they agreed to go with Louis to Harry’s house, honestly more out of curiosity than anything else.

When they got to Harry’s street, they drove by the house the first time, simply because they weren’t sure where to park. There were cars filling up both sides of the road.

“Didn’t you say he was having a  _few_ people over?” Zayn asked from the passenger seat. “There’s a lot of cars here.”

“I guess a few means twenty?” Louis shrugged. “I don’t know. And, it’s a Saturday. Maybe he’s not the only one in the neighborhood having a party.”

They finally found a space near the end of the block, so Louis parked his car and they walked to the house, each of them carrying a six-pack of beer.

Earlier in the day, Harry had told them to just walk in when they arrived, so Louis grabbed the doorknob and turned it, letting the three of them into the house.

The first thing Louis noticed was how loud the house was. But it wasn’t ‘college party in a Hollywood movie’ loud. The noise was partly coming from a stereo that was playing in the sitting room directly to their right, and a group of people Louis didn’t recognize playing a card game around a coffee table, but was mostly coming from the living room to their left.

Louis, Liam and Zayn looked in to see a bunch of people gathered around the television, cheering on the four people currently battling it out in Mario Kart.

“Sick,” Zayn said, walking into the living room. To no one in particular, he asked, “Can I play next?”

A few people looked over their shoulders to see where the new voice was coming from, but only one person, the guy currently in first place, responded.

“Yeah, man, sure!” he called out. “See if you can actually beat me.”

Louis recognized the voice, and after looking a bit more closely, he realized it was Johnny.

“Oh, Johnny, you can’t make my latte right, but you can kick ass in Mario Kart?” he teased.

“Oh, hang on, is that Louis?” Johnny chanced a look over his shoulder to confirm. “Oh, shit! Louis, I didn’t know you were coming! Harry! Louis’ here!”

From somewhere else in the house, he heard Harry shout back, ‘OK!’

A moment later, Harry walked through the archway on the opposite wall that connected the living room to what looked like the kitchen.

“Hey,” Harry greeted. He walked further into the room, headed right for them. Of course, he had to walk by the television to do that.

“Hey!” a bunch of people yelled as Harry blocked their view of the screen.

“Oh, relax,” Harry said. “You’re all losing by half a lap, anyway.”

Only Johnny found that to be funny.

“Anyway…” Harry said when he reached the newcomers. “Hi! Welcome!”

“Thanks,” Louis replied. He pointed to his right. “Uh, this is-”

Unfortunately, Louis didn’t get the chance to introduce Zayn, because at that moment, the Mario match ended.

“I call black Yoshi!” Zayn said, hurrying over to grab a paddle from Perrie, who looked like she was giving up for the time being.

Louis shook his head, but instead pointed to Liam, who stood to his left.

“I guess I’ll introduce you to Zayn after he finishes his game. Anyway, Harry, this is Liam.”

“Hi, Liam,” Harry greeted, reaching out a hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you, Harry,” Liam told him, taking his hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Good to finally put a face to the name.”

“Thanks. Same to you, actually. Louis kind of loves you, you know.”

“Yeah, I did,” Liam replied. “He just won’t admit it.”

“Wow, thirty seconds in and I already need a beer,” Louis muttered.

“Anybody else want to play?” Jesy called out. “Louis’ friend? Sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Liam, and uh, sure.” Liam took the controllers from Jesy and started to select his player.

“So those are my friends,” Louis said to Harry. “They’re very social, as you can tell.”

“I’m gonna kick your ass, Li,” Zayn said, taking off his jacket.

“Not a chance in hell,” Liam shot back.

“Yeah, very friendly, too,” Harry said.

Louis picked up Liam and Zayn’s beer where it had been abandoned on the floor. “Guess we should do something with this. Do you have a fridge around here?”

“No, we just keep everything outside and pray for snow,” Harry deadpanned.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. You’re funny.”

“Thanks. But yes, you’re in luck. We do have a fridge. Come on.”

Louis followed Harry down a hallway, past a bathroom and through an open door into a large dining room. They walked through a swinging door into the kitchen.

“You can squeeze that in anywhere you find room,” Harry said, opening the door to the refrigerator.

“That’s what he said,” Louis muttered as he found space for the beer in his hands. He kept one bottle out for himself, though, and reached into his jacket for his bottle opener.

“You come prepared,” Harry commented as Louis pried the cap off his beer.

“Always do.” Louis winked. Then he threw the cap into the recycling bin.

“Thanks for coming.”

“You’re welcome. It’s a nice house you have here, from what I can tell.”

“Yes, my kitchen is all the rage, isn’t it?”

Right then, they heard a loud yell from the living room just through the archway.

“Get fucked!” Zayn shouted.

“Make me!” Johnny yelled back.

Louis snorted. “Mario Kart destroys friendships, you know?”

Harry shrugged. “Meh. Not as much as Monopoly.”

“Oh, that’s true. I once tried to flip my coffee table because I got my ass kicked at Monopoly after a three-day playing session.”

Harry laughed. “And what happened?”

“Well, my mom whacked me on the back of my head for trying to do that, and then she made me clean up all of the pieces by myself. And Fizzy got to brag about winning. God, she was the worst.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I meant to ask before, but, um, what’s her real name? It’s not actually Fizzy, is it?”

“Of course it is, Harold. You know that people are always called by their birth names, and birth names only.”

Harry stared at him. “You could just give me a straight answer, you know.”

“Of course I could. But that’s not as fun. But no, her real name is Félicité.”

“So why do you call her Fizzy?” Harry asked.

“Uh, I think I just couldn’t say Félicité correctly when I was younger. Or maybe Lottie couldn’t. I don’t know, it kind of all blends together. Anyway, someone couldn’t pronounce her name right so we just called her Fizzy, and it stuck over the years.”

Harry nodded. “Makes sense. Those syllables can be hard to master.”

“Or, I was just being a little shit and gave her that nickname because I wanted to annoy my mom by not calling her her real name.”

Harry thought it over. “Hmm… I might believe that last one the most.”

Louis scoffed, pretending to be offended. “I don’t have to take this, you know.”

Harry laughed as Louis walked away, headed for the hallway. As he left the kitchen, he noticed picture frames on the wall.

“Oh, how did I miss these?” Louis asked seriously.

“You had to get your beer in the fridge. That was more important.”

“I guess so.”

He looked at the photos hanging on the wall, getting a glimpse into Harry’s childhood and family life.

“Who’s this?” Louis asked, pointing to a [picture](https://assets.capitalfm.com/2012/05/harry-styles-baby-picture-1328026309-view-0.jpg) of a little blonde boy smiling happily at the camera.

“That’s me,” Harry answered.

Louis looked between Harry and the picture. “No, it’s not.”

“I promise it is.”

“But this boy has straight, blonde hair, not curly brown. And, hate to break it to you, this kid is cute.”

Harry nudged Louis with his shoulder. “Hey!”

“Just kidding. You really had blonde hair?”

“I did. Glad it changed, too. I don’t know how I would feel having blonde hair now.”

“It would definitely be a look.”

Louis continued down the hallway. “Is this [one](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/33/e2/09/33e209009a8ea717cb8669dc672818bb--harry-edward-styles-harry-styles.jpg) you and your sister?”

Harry nodded. “Yup, that’s us.”

“You’re really close with her, aren’t you?”

“Definitely. She’s one of my best friends.”

“God, you guys have such good genes.”

Harry laughed. “Thanks, I guess? I’ll let my mom know you said that. Here’s one of all three of us.”

Louis turned around to look at the [photo](https://data.whicdn.com/images/127042416/original.jpg) Harry was pointing to. “Yup, definitely genetically blessed.”

Harry shook his head. “As if you and your sisters aren’t genetically blessed. Like, all of you? Good looking. What’s that all about?”

“You can thank our mom for that, honestly.”

“Well, consider her thanked.”

Louis smiled and took a sip of his beer.

“We should probably get back to them,” Harry said a moment later. “It’s too quiet. That’s usually when bad things happen.”

“Bad things? Like what?”

“I don’t know, like, Johnny got too competitive and challenged Liam to an arm-wrestling competition, or, Perrie left because everyone got on her nerves.”

“Or Zayn lost, and he’s trying to act like it’s not a big deal, when really, he’s kind of pissed. So he starts freezing everybody else out.”

“Sounds like something I would do, actually.”

“Then you and Zayn will probably get along fine.”

The two of them headed back toward the living room to find the game still going. In the time that they’d been gone, though, Niall had appeared, and he, Jesy, Zayn and another brunette girl Louis didn’t know were playing now.

Louis squeezed himself onto the couch, finding a spot between Liam and the arm of the sofa. Harry perched himself onto the arm next to Louis, stretching one leg out in front of him and propping the other on the edge of the couch.

Louis supposed the people who had been in the other room when he’d first arrived were now in here, as it seemed much more crowded than it had when he first arrived.

Louis settled into his seat. He took a sip of his beer and rested his head against Harry’s leg, using it as a pillow.

“Comfy?” Harry asked.

Louis nodded. “Very much, actually.”

For the next few hours, Louis found that he actually did have a lot in common with the youth of today.

After a few more rounds of Mario Kart, the group split again, with some going to smoke outside, and the rest getting out cards to play some drinking games.

Louis had a very nice buzz going after a particularly ruthless game of Never Have I Ever. But on the plus side, he now knew that Harry had never had a threesome, nor had he ever been caught having sex by a family member.

So, there was that.

It was later in the evening, when a few people had started to head home, but anyone who was left was in the living room, watching old episodes of  _The Office_ on Netflix _._

He and Harry were sitting together on the couch, this time, right next to each other. Harry was resting his head on Louis’ shoulder, and Louis had his arm loosely wrapped around him, his fingers playing with Harry’s hair.

He looked around the room, and while everyone was focused on the television, he found that Niall wasn’t.

Niall was actually giving Louis and Harry a strange look, and Louis wasn’t sure what to make of it.

He sat up a bit straighter, jostling Harry.

Harry looked up at Louis. “You OK?” he whispered.

“Yeah, I’m good. Um, I’m gonna get another drink. You want one?”

Harry just nodded. “Please?”

Louis grabbed his and Harry’s empty beer bottles and headed for the kitchen. He put them into the recycling bin and went to the fridge, pulling out two new bottles. He closed the door and grabbed the bottle opener, and as he did, he heard someone else enter the kitchen.

“Hey, Louis.”

Louis looked and saw that it was Niall, and he looked a little nervous.

“Hey, Niall. You all right?”

“Yeah?” Niall cleared his throat. “I mean… yeah. Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Not really. Um, I just wanted to say that I was sorry.”

Louis frowned. “What are you sorry for?”

“Well, it’s just- I haven’t seen you since I let the cat out of the bag or whatever about Harry, and I know you guys were kind of…  _off_ after it happened.”

Louis nodded. “Niall, it’s OK. Really. The truth would’ve come out eventually.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t my place to tell you that.”

“But how would you have known that Harry hadn’t told me how old he was?” Louis wondered. “I mean, it’s a pretty common thing for people to know about each other: how old they are. Especially when they’re as friendly as Harry and I are. Don’t beat yourself up over it, OK? And it didn’t ruin anything. Harry and I are still friends, and still hang out a lot. Nothing changed.”

Niall didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded his head anyway.

“OK,” he finally said. “Well, I’m glad you two are still friends. I probably shouldn’t say this, but Harry was really upset when he thought you wouldn’t want to talk to him anymore.”

Louis could understand.

“Yeah, well I kind of didn’t.” He leaned back against the counter, thinking back on those early days after he found out Harry’s age. “I mean, I was kind of a dick, to be honest, but I was just, weird whenever I talked to him. Like, I gave one-word answers and it was just so awkward. But, bless him, he really tried to keep it together and get past it. Finally, we met up and I apologized for how I acted, and, well, we weren’t fine right away, but we finally got back to it. So, it’s all good.”

Niall nodded. “If you’re sure.”

“Positive. Now, you’re Harry’s best friend. Got any embarrassing stories you can tell me about him?”

Niall thought about it before a grin slowly spread across his face.

“Well, I guess I could tell you about the time in middle school gym, when we were running the mile and his pants ripped in front of everybody.”

Louis’ jaw dropped. “No.”

“Yup. Right up the crack.”

Louis laughed, then slung an arm around Niall’s shoulders.

“You know what, Niall, I think this could be the start to a beautiful friendship.”

\---

After Louis left the room, Harry felt his phone vibrate. He looked down at the screen to see a message from Perrie.

Harry looked across the room and saw Perrie sitting in one of the armchairs, sending him sneaky glances, and raising her eyebrows and looking at his phone.

Harry guessed he should check to see what she sent him.

**_Perrie: so are you two together now?????????_ **

**_Harry: no…_ **

**_Perrie: but that’s like, the plan, right?_ **

**_Harry: i mean, yeah, but i can’t make him like me. If he wants to be friends, then we’re friends._ **

**_Perrie: HE’S NOT YOUR FRIEND. God i should film the two of you. It’s disgusting_ **

**_Harry: why are you filming us? That’s creepy_ **

**_Perrie: you know what i mean! If you could see yourselves from this angle, you’d know there’s more than friendship in how he feels about you_ **

**_Harry: but I can’t make him realize that. If that’s how he really feels, then he’ll realize it._ **

**_Perrie: and if he doesn’t? Then what do you do?_ **

Harry put his phone away after that. He didn’t want to answer that question.


	3. Three

Thanks to Harry’s semester being over, he now had a lot more free time. So over the next few weeks, as the weather got nicer and summer officially began, Louis and Harry quickly started an easy routine. At least once a week, they’d hang out at Louis’ apartment. They’d order food and watch a movie before Harry headed home, usually after midnight.

“What should we order?” Louis asked on one of those nights, yawning.

Harry shrugged, sinking further into the couch and into Louis’ side. He continued flicking through channels with the remote.

“You’re very helpful.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you want Chinese?”

Harry wrinkled his nose. “Didn’t we just have Chinese?”

“Did we? I can’t remember.”

“Oh. I kind of want pizza.”

“So we’ll get pizza.”

Louis leaned forward and grabbed his phone from the coffee table. Once he was comfortable in his spot on the couch again, Harry rested against him, his cheek on Louis’ shoulder, trying not to fall asleep at how relaxed he felt.

As Louis dialed the pizza place a few minutes away, there was a knock on the door.

Louis frowned and looked over at Harry.

“Were you expecting somebody?” Harry asked.

“No.”

He stood up and slid his phone into his back pocket. He went over to the door and froze when he looked through the peephole.

“Lou, who is it?” Harry asked.

_Shit_.

“Lou, we know you’re home!” his sister Lottie called through the door.

“Yeah, we saw your SnapChat!” his other sister Fizzy added.

_Fuck_. Louis knew that damn app was a bad idea. Harry had been pestering him about why he never used it, so just to shut him up, Louis posted a picture of his feet on the coffee table and the TV in the background with the caption ‘quiet night in.’

Now it was coming to bite him in the ass.

Knowing he didn’t have a choice, Louis opened the door.

“Hi…” he said.

“Hi!” Fizzy said happily.

“Good to see you,” Lottie told him. “Can we come in?”

“Um, well-”

“Great.”

Lottie pushed past him and into the apartment. Fizzy grinned and followed her, but stopped short when she saw Lottie frozen.

“Who are you?” Lottie asked.

“Um…” Harry stalled, looking at Louis for a little help.

“Harry, these are my sisters, Lottie and-”

“Felicite!” Harry finished when he saw Fizzy, his eyes wide. “Hi.”

“Harry?” Fizzy asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Wait, you guys know each other?” Louis wondered.

“Yeah, we had a class together last semester,” Fizzy answered. “Mr. Smarty Pants over here was slumming it in my Journalism class.”

“You took Journalism?” Louis asked Harry.

Harry shrugged. “I still have electives, you know.”

“But… you guys know each other.”

“Yeah.”

“So, if Harry’s friends with Fiz, what is he doing  _here_?” Lottie asked Louis.

“Because we’re friends,” Louis replied.

Lottie raised an eyebrow. “Friends?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Well, what are you two  _friends_ up to?”

“We were just about to order pizza,” Harry told her.

Lottie grinned. “Awesome! Well, we were going to drag Louis out of here and out to dinner, but Harry, since you’re here, looks like you’re coming with us.”

Louis cleared his throat. “He is?”

“Yeah! Won’t that be fun?”

Louis didn’t know if ‘fun’ would be the word he’d use to describe his sister cornering Harry into an interrogation.

“I mean, if you’d rather hang out here, that’s fine,” Fizzy jumped in, ever the diplomat. “Lottie and I can just head out.”

“No, we’ll go,” Harry said, standing up.

“We will?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, sounds like fun.”

“See!” Lottie said, poking Louis in the side. “Harry thinks it’ll be fun, too.”

Louis held himself back from rolling his eyes at Lottie, but at least Fizzy looked slightly sympathetic.

“OK, then. Let’s go have fun.”

\---

Half an hour later, the four of them were sitting in a booth at Mario’s, the pizza place that Louis had been trying to order from.

Why they couldn’t just order in, Louis didn’t know. Why his sisters had to accompany him and Harry to get pizza, Louis also didn’t know.

But on the plus side, Harry, who was sitting across from Louis, was stealing the show, keeping both of his sisters occupied with the story he was currently telling.

“So then he goes,” Harry scrunched up his face and then said in a deep, British accent, “Harry, you can’t call the Dean of Students a moron in your article.”

Fizzy laughed out loud from her seat next to him. “Oh, my God, that’s exactly how he sounds, too!”

Louis smiled at Harry, loving how relaxed he felt. He wasn’t sure how he would react to meeting Louis’ sisters for the first time, but it looked like it helped that he already knew Fizzy.

“So I asked him why, obviously,” Harry continued. “And he tells me that the first rule of journalism is to be objective. I can’t put my own feelings into it.”

“So what happened next?” Lottie asked.

“Well, I told him that the Dean being a moron  _was_ a fact and not an opinion. And you know what he said to that?”

“What?” Louis asked.

“Well, he leaned in, right? And then he says, real quiet, ‘of course it’s a fact. But that still doesn’t mean you can write it.’ And then he walked away!”

The four of them started laughing at the end of the story.

“How long has he been a professor at your school?” Louis asked out of curiosity.

“Like, twenty years?” Harry guessed. “He’s definitely got a few screws missing, but he speaks the truth.”

“Brilliant writer, too,” Fizzy added. “He used to be like, a real hard-hitting journalist, even won a few awards.”

“Now he just teaches. Never a dull moment with him, though.”

“Sounds like it,” Louis said.

“So Harry, you said you’re not a Journalism major?” Lottie asked.

“Yeah I’m going for my Master’s in School Psychology.”

“So how come you’re only a few months older than Fiz but already in grad school? She’s supposed to be the smart one in the family and you’re putting her to shame.”

Fizzy scoffed. “And who’s my closest competition for smartest? Doris, probably.”

“If that weren’t true, I’d be more annoyed,” Louis replied before Lottie could say anything. “The girl is way too clever for her age. Besides, it’s not Harry’s fault he’s a genius.”

Harry shook his head. “Not a genius.”

“Right. Just the highest scoring incoming freshman in your school’s history. No big deal.”

Harry blushed and gazed down. “Still not a genius.”

“I know, H.” When Harry looked back at him, Louis shot him a wink.

Lottie cleared her throat. Loudly. “Hey, Louis, let’s go see if the pizza is almost ready.”

“What? Why?”

“I think Lottie wants to talk about me,” Harry said, smiling.

“Why would I ever do that?” Lottie asked. 

“Because my sister would do the exact same thing. I’ll go check on the pizza. And if you happen to talk about me then so be it.”

Harry slid out of the booth and went up to the counter. He pulled out his phone and stood there scrolling through it while he waited for a cashier to be ready.

“He really is smart,” Lottie said.

“Yeah, he is,” Louis agreed. “And you’re about as subtle as a nuclear bomb explosion.”

“Well I’m just confused.”

“That’s not new, Lots,” Fizzy teased.

Lottie flipped her the middle finger before continuing.

“I’m confused why you’re insisting you and Harry are friends. Good lord, the way you keep looking at each other. You’re not just friends.”  

“Yeah, it’s worse than Lottie and Tommy,” Fizzy said. “The two of you are definitely not subtle.”

“Don’t be mad because me and Tommy are cute.”

“I’m not mad about it. The point was that you and Tommy are very clearly a couple. And the two of them are-”

“Friends,” Louis finished for her. “We’re friends. That’s it.”

“But why?” Fizzy asked. “You two are cute together. And you seem to get along really well and there’s a connection there. Why aren’t you dating yet?”

“Are you dating and just not telling us?” Lottie wondered. “Because that’s dumb.”

“No, we’re not secretly dating. He’s just… young.”

Lottie and Fizzy stared at him.

“He’s 21,” Fizzy finally said.

“Right. And I’ll be 29 in six months. That’s a big gap,” Louis explained.

“Dan and Mom are 10 years apart, though,” Lottie replied. “And some celebrities in Hollywood date people like, twenty years younger than them.”

“This isn’t Hollywood, though. And I know Dan and Mom are 10 years apart.”

“Well does their age difference bother you?”

“No.”

“So why does it bother you with Harry?”

“Because it’s- Well, we’re younger than Mom and Dan were when they got together.”

Lottie scoffed. “So? That means you’ll have more time to be together. Next argument.”

“He’s still in school.”

“I’m still in school,” Fizzy replied. “I think we can all agree that my age has nothing to do with my maturity. Next.”

“He still lives at home.”

Fizzy and Lottie laughed.

“Lou, you only moved out in December. You’re not exactly at the top of the leaderboard in that aspect.”

“We’re just in different places in life,” Louis tried. “And I mean, when we go out, I don’t know- or, I don’t think-”

“Louis,” Fizzy gasped. “This isn’t because you care about what other people would think, is it?”

“No…?”

“Lou, come on. It’s 2018. People don’t care about that anymore. I mean, for God’s sake, think of who our president is. We all have bigger things to worry about than you dating another consenting adult.”

“I mean, I agree with you on that front, but trust me, people still care,” Louis said.

“But if you’d be happy with Harry, why should you?”

And, well, Louis didn’t have an argument for that exactly. But a memory of judgmental eyes flashed across his mind, and that was enough for now.

“OK, I think the cashier thought I was creepy, so she gave me extra breadsticks to get me to go away,” Harry said, coming back to the table with their pizza. “Did we even order breadsticks?”

“No,” Fizzy and Lottie said.

“Oh. Well, she said one of you could go get them when they’re done in a few minutes.”

“OK,” Lottie told him. “Well, I’m starving, so I’m taking a piece of pizza.”

All four of them it seemed were hungry, so Harry passed out plates and they all took a slice.

As Louis grabbed his, he could feel Harry’s eyes on him.

_You ok?_ Harry mouthed across the table.

Louis nodded and put on a smile. Harry didn’t seem convinced, though, so Louis reached his leg out under the table and ran his foot up Harry’s calf.

Harry smiled then, and took a bite of his pizza.

Louis dropped his fake smile then, hoping that was enough to convince Harry that he was fine.

Just fine.

\---

_Louis knew his mom was upset after talking to Mrs. Turner. Hell, Louis was upset, too. His mom was a fucking angel, and the fact that people actually had the nerve to speak to her the way Mrs. Turner did made him so angry he couldn’t even form words._

_Throughout dinner, Jay and Louis had been pretty quiet. Dan had noticed, of course, as he always did, but he didn’t say anything, and Louis’ four sisters still made enough conversation to prevent any quiet moments at the table from occurring._

_After dinner, Louis and his sisters went to different parts of the house, but Louis stayed in the living room, watching TV and finding any excuse he could to not do his assignments for his Advertising courses._

_He headed toward the kitchen to get a drink, but stopped when he heard his mom tearily telling Dan what had happened earlier that day._

_“She was just such a_ bitch _!” Jay said, her voice cracking. “Like, who actually says something like that to someone? She doesn’t know our relationship. How dare she say I’m too old to be pregnant or that you might actually, that you could-”_

_Louis heard Dan shushing Jay and Jay’s muffled sobs, so he guessed Dan had pulled her into a hug._

_“You know I love you, right?” Dan asked quietly. “More than anything?”_

_Louis heard a very soft ‘yes.’_

_“And you know I would never leave, right?”_

_“Of course I do,” Jay replied, this time a little louder. “But just, the fact that she could think that, that people could really think that you would leave because the babies are too much responsibility for you because you’re younger, and because I’m… older.”_

_“You’re 39, not 90. And she needs to mind her own business. She’s not a part of this relationship, because if she was, she’d know that being with you is the happiest I’ve ever been, and that I haven’t thought about your age since the day I met you, because your age doesn’t matter to me. What matters is the woman you are and the mother you are and will be to our little angels.”_

_Jay sniffled._

_“And if she has a problem with our relationship, just because you’re older than me, than she’s no longer welcome here,” Dan decided. “We don’t need anyone who doesn’t support this family one hundred percent in this house.”_

_Louis walked away then, forgetting all about getting a drink._

_He headed up to his room. After hearing that conversation, his Advertising homework seemed pretty damn good now._

\---

“It’s hot!” Niall whined for the fifth time in as many minutes.

“Niall, of course it’s hot,” Louis said. “It’s almost the end of June and we’re outside. What did you expect?”

“I don’t know. Not this. I mean, we’re in the woods and the trees here are really tall. Isn’t that supposed to block out the sun?”

“Yeah, block the sun,” Liam said. “Not the heat. We live in New Jersey; the humidity is everywhere here.”

It was a beautiful June morning, and Liam and Louis had been having issues coming up with ideas for their campaign for the new outdoor company. Their deadline was quickly approaching, so Louis finally gave in to Liam’s pestering and agreed to go hiking with him, as long as hiking meant going to the basic walking trails through the woods at the park near his mom’s house.

Of course, Harry offered to go with him, his excuse being ‘someone might need to carry you out if you fall and break something.’ Niall wanted to go just because he was bored and had nothing else to do, and Zayn went, as well, because the idea of seeing Louis spend any real time in the woods was too promising to pass up.

Now, though, it seemed like they were all regretting their decision to spend an hour outside, in direct heat, in the middle of the summer.

“Niall, you wanted to come,” Harry reminded him. He was walking with Liam at the front, and the other three were following along.

“Yeah, because I thought we might at least see some animals or something.”

Zayn frowned. “Niall, it’s like, eleven in the morning. What did you think we’d see?”

“I don’t know. Deer or something? But all we’ve seen are that pack of turkeys, and as soon as Louis saw them, he said we had to turn around and go the opposite way.”

“Have you ever gotten close to a turkey?” Louis asked.

“Only at Thanksgiving,” Niall muttered.

“They’re vicious animals,” Louis continued, ignoring Niall’s answer. “They’re almost as bad as geese.”

“What’s wrong with geese?” Harry asked.

“Don’t get me fucking started on geese.”

“He got chased by one in college,” Zayn said.

“What?” Liam, Harry and Niall all asked.

“Yeah. There was a lake on our college campus, and we were walking near it one day. I think the goose just had eggs or something, and Louis got too close, so it chased him away, squawking at him the whole time.”

“Lou, is that true?” Liam wanted to know.

“I fucking hate geese,” Louis mumbled as an answer.

“Oh, Lou,” Harry said, stifling a laugh.

“Whatever. It’s fine. I’m over it now.”

“Clearly,” Niall said.

“Shut it, Irish.”

“Guys, which way do we go?”  Liam suddenly asked.

The five of them stopped where they were, coming to a fork in the road. Well, there were three paths to choose from, so was it really a fork?

Anyway, they looked around, realizing they hadn’t been paying quite as close attention as they probably should’ve been.

“Well, don’t we go that way?” Harry asked, pointing to the path on the right. “When we first got here, we came downhill, and this path goes uphill. So that’s probably it.”

“Yeah, but we also passed a wooden bench when we came in,” Louis said, “and there’s a bench there on the left.”

“Liam, what does your phone say?” Zayn asked.

“My phone?”

“Yeah, haven’t you had it out this whole time?”

“Um. Yeah…” Liam trailed off.

“Li, what’s on your phone?” Louis snatched it out of his hand and rolled his eyes when he saw what was on the screen. “Really? The fucking compass?”

“What? I have to get into the outdoorsy mindset!”

“Yeah, but you weren’t like, tracking where we went? There are apps for that so shit like this doesn’t happen!”

“Shit like what?” Liam asked.

“Getting lost in the woods!”

“Are we really lost?” Niall asked, his face turning pale.

“No, we’re not lost!” Harry told him.

“Great, I’m going to die out here in the woods with you guys,” Zayn muttered, running a hand over his sweaty face.

“No one is dying in the woods,” Liam told him. “I’ll get us out of here.”

“How?” Louis wanted to know. “All we have is that compass. Do you even know how to read that?”

“Of course I can read it! Look!” Liam turned his body so he was facing the center path. “Boom! That’s north.”

“So?” Harry asked. “Are we north of the park or south of it? Or east? Or west? Which way should we go?”

Liam thought about that. “Oh.”

“Oh, my God, Liam,” Louis whispered, shaking his head.

“Hang on, shut up, guys,” Niall suddenly said. “I hear something.”

The five of them stood completely still, listening for whatever Niall supposedly heard.

“Niall, what is it?” Zayn finally asked after a minute of silence.

“I think I hear a river.”

“So?”

“Well, rivers flow downstream, right?”

“Not always,” Harry replied. “I mean, the Nile River flows upstream-”

“Harold, not the time,” Louis said. “Niall, what were you saying?”

“Well, if we can find the river, we can figure out which way is downstream.”

“OK,” Liam said. “And?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I thought someone else might.”

The other four sighed.

“OK, I’m going this way,” Harry said, pointing to the path on the right. “If it’s not the right way, maybe we can at least get a visual of some other people or see where the park actually is.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Zayn said.

The five of them stuck together and started up the path Harry had pointed to.

“H, when are you guys leaving for your vacation?” Niall asked as they walked.

“Vacation?” Louis asked.

“Oh, yeah, that is coming up, isn’t it?” Harry said, not seeming to care all that much.

“What vacation?” Liam wondered.

“My family goes on a vacation every July. I kind of forgot about it.”

“Who forgets about a vacation?”

“Seriously. I need a vacation,” Louis said.

“He forgets every year,” Niall told them, “despite going  _every year_.”

“I just hate packing,” Harry said. “And we go for like, two weeks, so I have to pack a lot.”

“Where are you going?” Zayn asked.

“Um…”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even know?”

“Well, it’s somewhere in the Caribbean…”

“That’s even worse!”

“Harry’s family are big travelers,” Niall told them. “He’s probably been everywhere in the Caribbean by now, so I guess they kind of blend together for him.”

“Hang on, let me look,” Harry said, pulling out his phone. He unlocked his cell and checked the calendar. A minute later, he said, “A-ha! The Bahamas! And we leave July 10th.”

“Who forgets a two-week vacation in The Bahamas?” Liam wondered incredulously. “I wish I could afford a weekend down there.”

“Hell, I’ll take a weekend in [Ocean City](http://www.oceancityvacation.com/about-the-island/our-shore.html) at this point,” Louis added. “I don’t take enough time off.”

“Like Niall said, they kind of all blend together,” Harry told them. “Once you’ve been to one Caribbean island, you’ve been to them all.”

“But I  _haven’t_ been to a Caribbean island. That’s kind of the point.”

“Oh. Blame Robin. He caught a traveling bug when I was in middle school, and it just hasn’t gone away.”

“Well tell Robin to bring us all on the next one,” Louis said.

Harry laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Wait, is that another person?” Niall suddenly asked.

And sure enough, he was right. Up ahead, the trail seemed to end, the dirt of it merging into the green grass of the park. There was a woman walking by, listening to music through the headphones in her ears and texting on her phone.

“Civilization!” Niall yelled, running forward.

“Niall, we weren’t even in there for a full hour,” Zayn said with a laugh.

“Don’t care!” he yelled over his shoulder. He reached the grass first and waited for the rest of them to catch up.

“Well that was fun,” Harry said. He turned around and saw Liam and Louis still standing where they’d left them. Liam was typing something into his phone while they talked about something excitedly.

“What are they doing?” Niall asked.

“They probably came up with an idea,” Zayn said. “I think they’re just writing it down before they forget.”

Niall and Harry nodded, and waited for them to finish.

“We have an idea,” Louis told them a few minutes later as they approached them.

“That actually helped?” Harry asked.

“It did. Liam tell them.”

“Get lost with us,” Liam said. “That’s the catchphrase, and we can have people in nature wearing the different equipment. And like, a person running who finds a really cool trail to explore, or people camping who are sitting around this awesome bonfire and the people hiking who find this really amazing view of like, a waterfall or something. Because that’s something outdoorsy people like, right? Getting lost in the wilderness, getting away from regular civilization and forgetting about everything else for a few days.”

“Yeah, I’m actually excited about this one,” Louis said with a big smile on his face.

“So this actually worked for you guys?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, looks like it. What do you guys think?”

“I think that if I liked nature,” Harry said, “I would absolutely buy from the company because of those ads.”

“I know, right!” Liam said. “We’ll start working on everything at the office tomorrow.”

“And you thought we couldn’t do it.” Louis shook his head. “Have some faith, Liam.”

“I knew we could do it!”

Louis stared at him.

“OK, fine, I was nervous about this one. But we pulled through.”

“Can we celebrate this?” Niall asked. “With food? And beer? And air conditioning?”

“Works for me,” Zayn said, starting to walk toward the parking lot.

“Let’s go,” Liam added.

The three of them started walking ahead, with Louis and Harry following along.

“Congrats on figuring out your campaign,” Harry said.

“Thanks. You really do like it, right?” Louis asked, sounding unsure.

“Of course I do. I mean, you came up with it. How could I not?”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Whatever. And, hey, did you really forget your vacation?”

“Yeah. Sort of. I  _really_ hate packing.”

Louis just shook his head. “Well have fun anyway. Try not to miss me too much.”

Harry just nodded, but didn’t say anything back. He didn’t want to make any promises he couldn’t keep.

\---

**_Louis: when are you coming back_ **

**_Louis: my morning routine is destroyed without you_ **

**_Harry: haha why_ **

**_Louis: bc nobody else makes my coffee right_ **

**_Louis: jesy almost gave me caramel this morning_ **

**_Harry: how dare she. Doesn’t she know you’re sweet enough?_ **

**_Louis: now’s not the time for your compliments, harold_ **

**_Louis: i do appreciate that though_ **

**_Harry: you’re welcome. But i’ll be back sunday, and back to work monday morning_ **

**_Louis: oh you don’t have to rush. It’s not an emergency_ **

**_Harry: i thought it was. Isn’t that why you just texted me?_ **

**_Louis: well yeah. I mean, I might miss you a bit, too. But whatever._ **

Before Harry could respond, he felt cold water being poured all over his back.

“What the hell?” he yelled, jumping off his lounge chair.

“Get off the phone with your boyfriend and enjoy your family’s company,” Gemma said, putting the cap back on her water bottle.

“Mom and Robin aren’t even here! They’re out shopping.”

“You can still enjoy my company.”

“You’ve been in the pool since we got down here,” Harry said. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Sure he’s not. That’s why you’ve been attached to your phone since our plane landed.”

Harry shrugged a shoulder. “Whatever.”

“No argument? You can just admit I’m right. It’s fine.”

“I’ll admit you’re annoying.”

“Love you, too, Little Brother.”

Gemma dropped her water bottle to her chair and headed over to the diving board, ready to jump back into the hotel’s pool.

Harry checked his phone, happy that Gemma hadn’t gotten his phone with her water. He looked back at Louis’ last text, and didn’t know how to respond. Of course he missed Louis, too. It was hard not to. And they’d been talking everyday since Harry and his family had arrived three days ago. But it still wasn’t the same.

He sent Louis back a response, and then adjusted his sunglasses, wanting to relax for a bit before his mom and stepdad came back and wanted to get dinner.

**_Harry: miss you, too_ **

\---

“Holy shit, you got sunburned,” Louis said as soon as he walked into the coffee shop the day Harry was back.

Perrie, who stood at the register next to him, snorted loudly. “Pay up.”

“Damn it, Louis,” Harry whined.

“What?”

“Perrie bet me that would be the first thing you said when you walked in. Now I owe her five bucks.”

“Well, I mean… it’s true,” Louis said.

And it was. Harry had very clearly worn sunglasses every single second he was outside, evidenced by the heavy tan line around his eyes. His nose was burnt, as well, and he could see some redness peeking out from under the collar of his long-sleeve shirt.

“I burn easily,” Harry told him. “Gemma always makes fun of me for it.”

“Yeah, I can see why.”

“Thanks.”

Harry didn’t even bother asking what he wanted. He typed the order in and turned to make Louis’ latte.

“So Zayn said that we all need to hang out again,” Louis said. 

“Yeah?” Harry asked, glancing over his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m down for that. What does he want to do?”

“He didn’t say, just that we should get together. Oh, and it should be indoors.”

Harry put Louis’ latte on the counter and went to grab his muffin. “Sounds good to me, whatever we do. I like your friends.”

“Yeah, they like you, too. And Niall’s pretty cool, too.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that. He already calls himself The Captain; god only knows what he’ll promote himself to next.”

“Why does he call himself The Captain?”

“Hell if I know.”

Harry gave Louis his muffin, and then Louis swiped his debit card to pay for his order.

“Well we’ll figure something out,” Louis promised.

“Yeah, we’ll get to it.”

“Talk to you later. I’m glad you’re back. Have I mentioned that?”

“Like, once or twice.”

“OK. Just making sure.”

Harry laughed. “You better get to work before you’re late.”

“I guess. Talk to you later.”

Louis left the shop then, feeling better about going to work than he had all week.

\---

In the weeks following Harry’s return from his trip, something between Louis and Harry changed. Neither of them mentioned it, but both could feel it.

It was in the way they spoke to each other, the way they interacted when they were together, the way they got more touchy-feely with each day.

Maybe it was because they’d been apart for two weeks, and they weren’t used to it. Maybe it was because summer was already coming to an end, and Harry’s schedule would soon return to the hectic one it had been before. Or maybe things were changing just because their relationship was changing on its own.

Only time would tell what would happen next.

\---

Harry and Louis were at Bar A, sitting right by the bar and waiting for their next round of beer.

Harry was on his phone, scrolling through Facebook while Louis watched the Philadelphia Union soccer game on one of the televisions.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Louis squirming in his seat - again - and tapping his fingers on the bar counter.

“Will you sit still?” Harry asked, looking up at Louis. “You’re so fidgety today.”

“Sorry. Just, uh, tense game.”

Harry looked up at the television. “It’s on a commercial.”

“Oh. Well, it was really intense before. They almost scored.”

“OK… Well, almost scoring is better than not scoring, I guess.”

“Yup.”

Harry looked back at his phone, not really looking at anything in particular. He rested his arms on the counter, but paused when he felt it shaking.

“Do you feel that?” he asked, looking around.

“Feel what?”

“That shaking.” He didn’t see anything strange on the surface that would be causing it, but then he looked down, and saw Louis’ feet crossed at the ankles and sitting on the footrest connected to the bar. His foot was shaking quickly, so quickly it looked like it was about to snap.

“Dude, what’s wrong with you?” Harry asked.

“You want like, a list?” Louis attempted to joke.

“What?”

“Nothing. No, that was bad. Ignore that one.”

“You’re acting so weird today.”

“Yeah. Sorry,” Louis said.

“It’s OK. I mean, we’re all a little weird, right?”

“Right.”

Their beer came then, and Louis took a big gulp of his. Harry, on the other hand, took a small sip.

“Hey, so,” Louis started. “Um, in the park by my apartment, the big one, Chestnut Branch, that one, they’re actually having fireworks as like, an, end of summer thing.”

“They’re having fireworks in a park?” Harry thought about it. “That doesn’t sound very safe.”

“Well there’s like, a big area of it that’s like, open field. And it’s by a lake, too, so it’s really nice. Anyway, um, I was thinking about going.”

“By yourself?” Harry asked.

“What? No. Um, I mean, would you want to go? They’re going to have food trucks, including one like, really good ice cream one that I’m excited for. Um, if you felt like it.”

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, that sounds fun. When is it?”

“Next Saturday?”

“OK.”

“Cool!” Louis cleared his throat. “I mean, cool. Cool.”

“Actually, it’s August, so it’s pretty hot outside.”

Louis frowned. “OK, I take back what I said earlier.  _That_ was pretty bad.”

Harry laughed. “Come on. You don’t really expect good jokes from me, do you?”

“I don’t know, you come up with some pretty good one-liners sometimes.”

“Thanks, Lou. That means a lot coming from someone with such wisdom.”

Louis burst out laughing. “You’re such a little shit.”

“Thank you. I’ll wear that badge with honor.”

“Weirdo.”

“Yes, but I’m your favorite weirdo. It’s OK. You can admit it.”

Louis just smiled. He shook his head fondly at Harry and looked back up at the television.

\---

“So it’s a date?”

Louis rolled his eyes as he checked his appearance one more time. “No, Liam, for the last time, it’s not a date.”

“Right,” Zayn said. “Sure it’s not.”

In the reflection of his mirror, Louis could see Liam and Zayn lying next to each other on Louis’ bed, both of them looking skeptical.

“It’s not!”

“So you’re meeting Harry at the park, and you’re spending time there, together, with nobody else, to watch the fireworks tonight? Just the two of you?”

“Right.”

“And it’s not a date?” Liam asked.

Louis sighed. “No. We’re just watching the fireworks. It’s not like we’re doing dinner and a movie or something.”

“But you might get ice cream?”

“Maybe. They always have the gelato trucks down there.”

“So… just dessert?” Liam wiggled his eyebrows.

“Liam, shut up.”

“You know, we’re not doing anything tonight. Maybe we’ll tag along,” Zayn suggested.

“Fine. See if I care.”

“OK.” Zayn and Liam both started to sit up.

“No!”

Zayn snorted, but they both settled back in.

“Why did I invite you two over again?” Louis asked.

“Because you were having a crisis over what to wear for your ‘not a date’ date?” Liam answered.

“Because we’re your only friends?” Zayn suggested.

Louis picked up a sock off the floor and threw it at him. “You are not my only friends!”

Zayn dodged the sock and now both he and Liam were laughing.

Some friends.

“I have other friends.”

“Yeah but we’re the only ones who listen about Harry. Am I right?”

Louis sighed. “Maybe.”

He could hear Liam take a deep breath behind him as he prepared to say whatever he had to say next.

“Louis, just be careful,” Liam said. “Just remember why you’re in this situation, why you and Harry are only friends.”

“I know,” Louis said quietly. A little louder, he added, “But since we’re friends, we can go out and have fun.”

“You just told us we couldn’t go,” Zayn reminded him.

“Because you two are getting on my nerves.”

“If this were any other day, I’d hit you for saying that,” Zayn said. “But based on the situation, I’ll let it slide.”

“Thanks.”

Louis really did have great friends.

\---

“Do you want to sit here?”

Louis pointed toward a bench that was miraculously unoccupied in the crowd. Harry quickly nodded his head, and they took a seat.

They’d just left the massive line for ice cream, so they sat quietly, wanting to eat it before it melted.

“When are the fireworks supposed to start?” Harry asked, sticking his tongue out to lick ice cream off the cone.

It took Louis a minute to answer, since he was only a little distracted.

“Um, probably soon. It’s getting dark already.”

Harry nodded and looked around.

Since it was the first year they were doing the fireworks, it was as crowded as they had expected. All around them was a healthy mix of people of all ages. Just a few feet in front of them was a group of teenagers currently playing a round of ‘Heads Up!’ on one of their phones. Behind them was a family with two small children running around and blowing bubbles. Closer to the center of the park was a group of friends probably around Louis’ age, laughing loudly and taking pictures on their phones. And past them was an older couple, relaxing on a blanket with their bare feet stretched out in front of them.

“I can’t believe summer’s almost over,” Harry said, almost sadly.

“Yeah, but that just means you’re back to school, and one step closer to getting your degree,” Louis told him, trying to encourage him.

“Yeah.”

“What’s up next for you?”

“More classes,” Harry answered. “And an internship this time. So I’m getting more hands-on experience. I’ll be leading more sessions - not right away, of course - and I’ll also get observed doing it. I’ll be a nervous wreck.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re so ready. And, you wouldn’t have been put into this program if you couldn’t handle it.”

“I know, I know. It’s still scary. Like, all of the ‘what if’s’ just keep going through my head, and the semester hasn’t even started yet.”

“It’s always scary doing something new,” Louis said. “But my mom always told me, when it gets tough, you have to remember why you started. You know? Just keep that end goal in mind and that’ll get you through.”

Harry nodded slowly, thinking about what Louis just said. Then he turned to him, now with a fierce determination in his eyes.

“That can apply to a lot of things, you know.”

Louis set his jaw. “Yeah, I suppose it could.”

They turned away from each other then, busying themselves with finishing their ice cream after noticing that it was melting and ripping over their fingers.

After they finished, they made quiet small talk, mostly about Louis’ upcoming project at work, and the professors that Harry was excited to have, and the ones he was dreading.

Soon, though, they heard the first telltale boom of the fireworks beginning, and a hush fell over the crowd as their attention went toward the sky.

They watched as shades of blue and green lit up the night sky first, followed by bursts of gold and red. Beautiful colors spread across the sky, and they could hear the fuzzy noises as some of them fizzled out.

Louis was absolutely fascinated by the fireworks, always had been, and didn’t look away from them until he felt Harry shift on the bench next to him. He glanced over at Harry, whose gaze was still focused on the sky above.

And, well, Harry almost looked like positively radiant, the glow from the fireworks making his face light up and his eyes dazzle even more than usual.

Louis got so distracted staring at Harry that he didn’t even notice when Harry started staring at him.

“Louis?” Harry asked, catching his gaze.

Louis’ stare dropped down to Harry’s pink lips, the bottom one looking puffier than the top just because Harry had been biting it all night.

Louis looked into Harry’s eyes, seeing a bit of confusion at this turn of events, but no hesitation. Taking that as his sign to move forward, Louis started to lean in. He kept his eyes on Harry’s, in case he’d read this horribly wrong, in case Harry didn’t want to kiss Louis as badly as he thought, or as much as Louis wanted to kiss Harry. But Harry was leaning forward, too, so it seemed like that wasn’t the case.

Louis was just centimeters from Harry when he paused, wanting to back away, but in that moment, the pull was just too strong. His heart was telling him to keep going, even though his head was screaming at him to stop that instant and get the fuck out of there. He wasn’t sure if he or Harry closed the gap, but once their lips were together, there was no going back.

The kiss was fiery from the start, filled with a passion that neither one of them could voice. There were so many months of longing to deal with, and this kiss was going to do its best to make up for it.

Somehow over the noise of their surroundings, Louis could hear Harry struggling to catch his breath, but not wanting to pull away.

So, Louis made it so he couldn’t. He wrapped a hand around the back of Harry’s neck, holding him in one spot. In return, he felt Harry put his hands on Louis’ thighs. They made their way to Louis’ hips and then finally around his waist.

Clearly, Harry wanted to keep Louis in one spot just as much.

It wasn’t until Louis licked at Harry’s bottom lip and was met by a whimper that Louis’ head cleared up enough for him to realize what he was doing.

It took until Louis’ tongue slipped into Harry’s mouth for Louis to remember why he couldn’t do this.

And the second the kiss slowed down and Harry brought up a hand to cup his cheek, Louis pulled away.

The two of them were breathless, both still sitting with their hands all over each other and their foreheads pressed together.

“Harry, I, um-”

“I know,” Harry said quietly. “I know.”

Louis sighed and pulled back. He returned his hands to his lap and, for a second, thought about sitting on them so that the temptation to touch Harry would decrease.

Harry sat up straight next to him, and the  _boom_ of fireworks reminded them of where they were.

“I should go,” Louis said a minute later.

Harry looked alarmed. “What? No, Louis. Just, stay? OK?”

“Harry, this isn’t a good idea.”  _God, what the hell was I thinking?_ Louis thought to himself, realizing how badly he’d just screwed up. “I just… I should go.”

Harry pressed his lips together, trying to hide how wobbly his lower one was.

It broke Louis’ heart.

“Stay?” he finally, and shakily, asked. “Please?”

Louis wanted to get up and go so badly, but everything in him told him to stay right there in that fucking spot.

So he did.

“OK.”

Harry gave a small smile and immediately scooted back so he was right next to Louis. He sank down a bit on the bench so he could rest his head on Louis’ shoulder.

Louis briefly shut his eyes at the contact, and opened them a moment later to take in the rest of the fireworks.

They were quiet for the rest of the night, because, well, what else was there to say, really?

\---

They didn’t talk about it after that. Neither one of them thought they were strong enough to handle that conversation.

\---

More than a week went by before Louis felt comfortable talking about anything with Harry besides work and the weather.

Two Wednesdays after the kiss, Louis asked Harry what he would be doing that weekend.

“Maybe we can hang out,” Louis suggested. “Watch some movies, get pizza, you know, the works.”

“As awesome as that sounds, I don’t think I can this weekend.”

“Oh? What are you up to?”

“Friday night, I’m having dinner with my sister. Saturday and Sunday, I’m working.”

“All day? What about Saturday night? Or Sunday night?”

Harry hesitated. “Um, well, Sunday night could work, I guess. But, uh, Saturday I’m going to a party.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It’s just a campus party, a start of semester type thing, but Niall asked if I wanted to go, and, you know, it would be fun. You know, to hang out with some other people.”

And,  _ouch_. Louis could admit that stung a little bit. But after what had happened, Louis couldn’t blame Harry for wanting to get some space.

“Right. Right, yeah, that’s a good thing. And you know, it’s a campus party, so you know, people from school, and your own age and stuff. That’s... good.”

Harry nodded. “Yup. Gonna be a regular 21-year-old for the night, you know?”

“Right. That’s great!”

“Yeah.”

Louis cleared his throat. “Well, um, I’m gonna go. But, I’ll see you Friday?”

“Yeah! Yeah, sounds good.”

“OK. Have a good day.”

“You, too.”

Louis left the shop and headed for work.

_Harry’s spending time with some other people. Friends his own age. That’s good. Great, even._

Louis spent the rest of the day convincing himself how great it was. He was mildly successful.

\---

“Louis, go home.”

Louis had his head down on his desk on Friday morning, but didn’t even have the energy to pick it up to tell Liam to fuck off.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Tomlinson, go home.”

Well that got Louis’ attention. He peeked an eye up and saw Logan staring at him, too. When he had gotten to his and Liam’s office, he had no idea, but it had to have been in the last few minutes.

“I’m OK, sir,” Louis said, sitting up slowly. “Just a headache.”

Logan hummed. “Right. A headache. Why you’ve been half-asleep at your desk for the last twenty minutes.”

_Had it really been that bad?_

“I walked by earlier and heard Liam trying to get you to go home, so I figured I should just check on you to see if anything had changed. It hasn’t, so you’re going home. Not a request.”

Logan nodded once at him and then left the office.

“You heard the boss,” Liam told him.

“Yeah, I did. At least it’s Friday.”

Louis saved his work at his computer and shut it down.

“I’ll be good as new on Monday,” Louis promised.

“Whatever. Just get out of here. Have a good, relaxing weekend.”

Louis tried not to huff at being practically shoved out of his office, but that would’ve required too much energy.

Louis rode down to the lobby and waved good-bye to Charlie, who was currently lounged back in his chair with his feet propped on his desk.

Some security.

When Louis got outside, he took in a deep breath. It was hot out, but the humidity was low enough that it wasn’t unbearable for a change. He started walking and, as he approached Spill the Beans, realized he didn’t want to go home just yet.

So he walked in, and saw that there wasn’t much of a crowd as he’d gotten there before the lunch rush.

Harry was leaning against the counter, looking at his nails. But he wasn’t alone. He nodded at something the woman standing in front of the counter was saying.

She had shoulder-length blonde hair and was wearing a nice dark blue dress with sandals.

Louis got in line, but Harry didn’t notice him right away. He cleared his throat to get his attention.

Harry glanced up immediately, at first with an apologetic look on his face. But then he saw it was Louis, and suddenly seemed less apologetic and more fond.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Harry asked.

The woman he was talking to looked over her shoulder at whoever Harry was now focused on, and Louis froze, realizing it was Gemma. And shit, he was about to meet Harry’s sister.

But then he remembered Harry had asked him a question.

“Uh, my head was killing me and I couldn’t focus on anything, so Thompson let me leave early.”

“Oh no! Well, what are you doing here? You should go home and get some rest.”

“I know. And I will. Just wanted to stop in and say hello since I was coming back this way.”

The woman next to him, who he’d unfortunately forgotten about, cleared her throat loudly.

“Hi, I’m Gemma,” she told him. “Just thought I’d introduce myself since my little brother is being rude about it.”

“Hi,” Louis put his hand out and she took it in hers to shake. “I’m Louis.”

Suddenly the grip on his hand tightened, and it actually kind of hurt.

Louis winced, hoping his pain didn’t show through on his face.

“Gemma,” Harry hissed.

“You’re Louis?” she asked, instead of responding to her brother. She gave him a very obvious once-over, letting her eyes rake over his body, taking in the suit and dress shoes he was wearing before glancing back up to his hair.

“Gemma, be nice,” Harry pleaded.

“I’m always nice,” she shot back. Then she asked, “This is Louis?”

“Yes.”

She turned her gaze toward Harry now. Louis had never known such relief. “The Louis you’ve told me about?”

“Yes, and he can hear you,” Harry whispered.

Gemma looked at Louis again, and finally let go of his hand.

Louis put it behind his back and started flexing his fingers, trying to get feeling in them again.

“Sorry,” Gemma said slowly. “You just caught me off-guard. When Harry mentioned you, I pictured more of a classmate, not an… advisor.”

“Gemma!”

Louis smiled, but he knew it probably wasn’t believable. “H, it’s OK.”

Gemma raised an eyebrow. “H?”

Louis pressed his lips together. The nickname wasn’t meant to slip out.

“Gemma, stop it,” Harry hissed.

“Fine. I was leaving, anyway,” Gemma said. “But I’ll see you tonight for dinner. Louis, it was…  _nice_ to meet you.”

She turned away from the counter and headed for the exit. “Love you, little brother,” she called over her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry rushed to apologize as soon as she was gone. “She’s never been like that toward any of my friends before. I don’t know what was wrong with her.”

“Harry, it’s really OK,” Louis told him.

“No, it’s not! She can’t talk to you like that!”

“Harry, babe, calm down. You’re working yourself into a frenzy.”

“I’m sorry, I just… I feel awful that she treated you that way.”

Louis shrugged. “It’s fine. I promise I’m not upset.”

Harry sighed. “OK.”

“So, I guess you didn’t mention my age to her, then?”

Harry shook his head. “It didn’t seem important.”

Louis smiled. “I know you don’t think so.”

“But everybody else does.” Harry rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. See? I’m not the only one.”

“Out of the two of us, you are,” Harry challenged.

Louis nodded. “Guess so. Um, I should head out. I actually did stop by just to say ‘hi.’”

“Hi,” Harry said. “And bye.”

“Bye. I’ll see you Monday.”

“Monday.”

\---

Harry banged on Gemma’s apartment door later that night, barging in the second she opened it.

“Little brother, come on in,” she deadpanned.

“I can’t believe you did that!” he huffed. “What is  _wrong_  with you?”

“Harry, you can’t seriously be mad at me for this.”

“For talking to my friend like that? For making him feel uncomfortable? Yeah, there’s an age difference. Whatever. We discussed it and moved on. You didn’t have to treat him like some kind of creep.”

“How much of an age difference?” Gemma asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Why does it matter?”

“It matters! Is he older than me? He has to be.”

“ _His_ sister is older than  _me_!”

“How old is he?” she shouted.

“Twenty-eight!”

Gemma’s jaw dropped. “Twenty-eight?”

“Yes, Gemma, and it’s not a big deal!”

“Yes, it is! That’s so creepy.”

“It’s not creepy! He’s a regular; he comes in in the mornings and gets coffee. We text and see each other outside of the shop every now and then.”

“Sure Harry, not creepy at all. Twenty-eight years old and going for you? He can’t find anyone else his age?”

“He’s no different than any of my other friends. We do the same things I do with Niall and Johnny and Perrie and everybody else.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, really!” Harry insisted. “We go for pizza, we text each other stupid memes and tell each other about our day. That’s it.”

“Yeah, for now. Until he gets bored of that and wants something more. Something involving a lot less clothing.”

Harry scoffed. “Louis isn’t like that.”

“Harry come on! How do you know that? Like, how do you  _really_ know?”

“Because  _he_ turned  _me_ down!” Harry yelled.

If it were any other moment, Harry would’ve been proud of himself for rendering Gemma speechless.

But in the moment, he was just so full of frustration and annoyance that he felt tears spring to his eyes. He angrily wiped them away before plopping himself down on Gemma’s couch.

“He what?” Gemma finally asked.

Harry sniffled. “Louis turned me down.  _He_ told me nothing would happen between us  _because_ of the age difference. There. Are you happy?”

“No, I’m not happy, Harry, not when you look like that.” Gemma sat down next to him. “You want to explain it to me, though? Because I’m actually a little confused.”

Harry sighed before going into his explanation. “Well, when Louis found out how old I was, he was definitely shocked. I never outright told him how old I was, and I wasn’t keeping it from him, either, but he never asked.”

“Did you know how old he was?”

Harry nodded, keeping his eyes focused on the floor.

Gemma took in a shaky breath. “OK. Continue.”

“Well, he avoided me for a little while and for like, two weeks after, it was just really weird between us. And then he texted me saying he wanted to talk about it, and I thought, ‘OK, maybe we can get past this.’ But then he said it made him uncomfortable, and that it was a lot to take in that I was only 21 and he felt like we were in different places in our lives, and… basically, nothing was going to happen.”

Gemma wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulders.

“After that, it was awkward, but he asked me if we would be OK. I think he thought that I said I wanted to stay friends just to be nice. But honestly, I was the one who pathetically asked to stay friends and still text and everything, because… I couldn’t let him go. I didn’t want to lose him.”

Gemma sighed. “Harry…”

Harry shook his head. “I know. So yeah, he’s the reason we’re not together, if that affects your opinion of him in anyway.”

“I almost don’t want to ask this, but, has anything happened between you? Like, more than friendship?”

“He kissed me once. But it was before he found out.”

Gemma nodded. “OK.”

“Yeah. So that’s it.”

Gemma paused before saying, “I want to meet him.”

Harry frowned. “You already did.”

“You know what I mean, Harry.”

“Why?”

“Because I like knowing your... friends.”

Harry waited, feeling like Gemma had something else to say. “...And?”

“And… I can tell he’s important to you, and I’m willing to admit I’m wrong if I’m wrong.”

“You won’t try to hurt him, will you?”

Gemma laughed. “No, I won’t hurt him. Just talk, I promise.”

“OK. Um, yeah, OK. I’ll text him and ask.”

Gemma sat quietly as Harry pulled his phone out of his pocket and started a new message. She could tell this Louis character would be around for a while, because if she was correct - and of course she was - there wasn’t a chance in hell that Louis just wanted to be Harry’s friend.

\---

When Harry had texted Louis last night saying his sister wanted to talk to him, he had, obviously, felt like he was going to throw up.

But now that he was in the diner, waiting for Gemma to show up - because he figured it would be better to get it over with - he felt like he might actually pass out.

He didn’t know what Gemma had to talk to him about. She’d made her opinions of him pretty clear yesterday, but at least she picked a public place so she couldn’t straight up murder him.

He would just keep a close eye on anything he ate or drank, though, just in case she tried to slip him something.

He heard the door open and looked up to see Gemma entering. He waved so she would see him and tried to take deep breaths as she approached.

“Hey,” she said, sitting across from him.

“Hi.”

She picked up the menu. “Did you order anything yet?”

“Just water. I didn’t know what you would want.”

She nodded.

He watched her as she read what the diner had to offer.

“Stop staring at me,” she said a moment later.

“Sorry. I’m just, a little confused, to be honest.”

“So am I.” She looked up at him. “When my brother told me about some new guy Louis, I never thought that guy would be…  _you_.”

Louis nodded. “Yeah. I know it’s, um, different.”

Gemma snorted. “You can say that again.”

Louis tensed as Gemma leaned forward.

“What are your intentions with my brother?”

Louis furrowed his brow. “My intentions? Didn’t realize we were in the 1950s.”

“You’d know what that’s like, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m 28. I’m not  _that_ old.”

For the first time since Louis had met her, Gemma actually  _smiled._

“I know,” she said. “My brother and I had a nice chat about you yesterday.”

“Yeah, Harry told me.”

“Of course he did. You didn’t answer my question, by the way.”

Just then, the waitress came up and asked if they’d had enough time to look over the menu.

They both ordered food - a cheeseburger for Louis and pasta for Gemma - and Gemma got a soda. Then they were left alone again.

Louis sighed. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth, preferably.”

“You won’t like the truth.”

Gemma stiffened. “Why?”

“Because I still want to be with him,” Louis sadly admitted. “That hasn’t changed, just because I won’t let anything happen. I still want him as badly as I did before. But I’ll take friendship if that’s what I can have with him.”

“And what about him? What does he want?”

“Same as me.”

“Well I assumed as much, based on how happy he was to see you yesterday.”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, Harry was never subtle about what he wanted.”

“No, he wasn’t. Seems to think very highly of you, too.”

“I feel the same about him. He’s brilliant.”

“He is. What else is he?”

“What?” Louis asked.

“What else do you like about my brother?”

Louis paused, thinking over the question.

Luckily, he didn’t have to answer immediately. The waitress came up and gave Gemma her soda before walking away again.

“He’s… funny and confident and positive,” Louis started. “He always sees the good in things, which isn’t like me at all. I’m more of a realist; some might even say pessimistic.”

Gemma nodded. “Same here. But go on.”

“And, he’s smart. I mean, obviously. He likes challenging me. He’s just so quick on his feet and the things he says always make me think, even at 8 o’clock in the morning when thinking is the last thing I want to do, not until I get to my office, at least. He’s determined, and knows what he wants out of life. He has a big heart and is just so considerate and caring. He values other people’s opinions, but doesn’t let them affect how he views himself.”

Gemma watched Louis as he took a deep breath.

Louis said softly, “And he’s beautiful. And with everything else about him, that’s a bit dangerous.”

“Why?” Gemma asked curiously.

“Because with Harry, his looks are just a bonus.”

Gemma felt a chill go up her spine with that last statement.

Louis ducked his head, looking at his hands in his lap.

“Louis, do you love my brother?” Gemma asked quietly.

Louis looked up quickly, not expecting that question, not in a million years.

Gemma was watching him closely, looking like she wasn’t breathing in anticipation of the answer.

Louis glanced back down and said, “I don’t know. Maybe? I mean, it would be easy to, wouldn't it?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“You haven’t held back yet.”

Gemma snorted. “No, I guess I haven’t. But, if Harry was, let’s say 25, would you date him?”

“Absolutely,” Louis answered immediately.

“And what if… you were 25? Would it work then?”

Louis nodded.

“Well, then…” Gemma sighed. “I think you should give it a shot.”

Louis’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he waited for the punchline from Gemma. But she looked pretty serious.

“You really mean that?” he asked, wanting to be sure.

“Look, Louis, I’ll admit I didn’t like you yesterday when I met you.”

“I’m shocked.”

“ _Anyway_ , I’m very protective of Harry. I know he’s an adult and can make his own decisions, but he’s still my little brother. And when I saw you, and how you were looking at each other, the age difference didn’t sit right with me. But I talked to him yesterday, and he seems to think you’re so amazing, and… I can see you feel the same for him.”

“I do.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Gemma warned.

“I won’t.”

They both took long sips of their drinks then, unsure of how to continue.

“So…” Gemma started. “You want to hear about the time Harry told our mom that I was a drug dealer?”

Louis laughed. “Uh, of course I do.”

Gemma giggled. “OK, so, this was back when we were kids…”

\---

**_Harry: WHAT did you say to gemma?_ **

**_Louis: what do you mean_ **

**_Harry: she like, loves you now_ **

**_Louis: oh. Lol. Nothing, I promise._ **

**_Harry: liar_ **

**_Harry: what happened? Did she yell at you? Call you names? Use some kind of mental manipulation?_ **

**_Harry: bc she’s really good at that last one_ **

**_Louis: haha nah we just talked. She knows i’m not some creep and she respects whatever choice you make. She’s just looking out for you, you know._ **

**_Harry: i know. It’s annoying_ **

**_Louis: it’s not annoying, babe_ **

**_Louis: it’s cute_ **

**_Harry: i guess_ **

**_Harry: you will tell me what you talked about, though_ **

**_Louis: of course i will. Just not right now_ **

**_Harry: fine. I’ll just sit here patiently waiting, i guess._ **

**_Louis: thank you_ **

\---

_“I’ll get more drinks,” Louis yelled over the noise of the bar. It was Dan’s bachelor party, and some may have found it weird that Louis was drinking with his future stepdad just a week before Dan’s wedding to his mom, but Louis didn’t._

_In fact, Dan’s friends were paying the tab for the night, so he really had no issues with it._

_Louis walked up to the bar and saw the bartender finishing with a customer, so he waited just a moment._

_“Another round?” the guy asked Louis, pulling the bottle opener out of his back pocket as he approached him._

_Louis just nodded and looked back. He was with Dan and four of Dan’s friends, all of whom were good guys. Unfortunately, none of them were his type, although Louis didn’t know if it would’ve been appropriate for him to hook up with any of them anyway._

_“Bachelor party?” the bartender asked, putting six open bottles on the counter._

_“Yeah. The guy with the blonde hair and the gray shirt is the groom.”_

_“Oh, awesome. Who’s the lucky lady?”_

_“My mom, actually.”_

_He looked at the bartender and saw him frowning._

_“Him? Dude, he’s like, our age. And he’s marrying your mom?”_

_Now it was Louis’ turn to frown, because, sure, Dan looked young, but he wasn’t close in age at all to Louis or the bartender, who looked maybe a year or two older than Louis._

_“Nah, he’s eight years older than me. My mom had me when she was young.”_

_“That’s still weird, though.”_

_“Why’s it weird?” Louis asked defensively._

_The bartender sensed his tone, and took a step back._

_“I mean, I guess it’s not weird… Good for your mom, though. Cougars are in these days.”_

_Louis gripped the edge of the bar so hard he couldn’t even feel his knuckles any more._

_“You know, my mom always taught me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, then I shouldn’t say anything. Unfortunately, I don’t always listen, you insensitive prick, so why don’t you fuck off and stop passing your judgment on other people’s relationships?”_

_Louis grabbed the beer bottles in front of him and headed back toward the group._

_“Whoa, you OK?” Dan asked when he returned, seeing his anger practically steaming off him._

_“Yeah, I’m good,” Louis told him weakly, passing out the bottles in his hands._

_“No, you’re not.”_

_“I am. Really.”_

_Dan eyed him up as he took his beer from Louis. “You’re sure?”_

_Louis nodded. ‘Yeah… Yeah, and I’m really glad you’re going to be my stepdad.”_

_Dan watched him for another moment before smiling. “Thanks, Lou. That means a lot.”_

_He held up his beer and the two of them tapped their bottles against the other’s._

_Louis took a long swig, absolutely wanting to forget the last ten minutes._

\---

That night, Louis went over to his mom’s house for dinner. After everyone ate, Louis and Jay were in the kitchen, cleaning up.

As nonchalantly as possible, Louis asked his mom, “Can I ask you something?”

“Always,” Jay responded.

“How did you know Dan was the guy for you?”

Jay glanced over her shoulder from the food she was packing up, but Louis kept his eyes focused on the plates he was rinsing.

“Same as anybody else, I suppose,” she finally answered. “I really enjoyed spending time with him and I always wanted to talk to him. He was funny and charming and smart. He wasn’t put off by the fact that I already had five children and a hectic nursing schedule. He was just a wonderful person all around, honestly.”

Louis nodded. He agreed with that. Dan had been around for the last ten or so years. He couldn’t remember a time when his mom had been happier.

“And, the age thing didn’t bother you guys?” Louis asked quietly.

At that, Jay stopped what she was doing and came to stand next to Louis. She leaned her forearms against the counter and looked up at him.

“It did at first,” she slowly admitted. “I mean, ten years is a lot, so at first, neither of us really did anything. But it was something that we talked about, because we both knew that we wanted to be together. It wasn’t anything we could fight. So we didn’t.”

Louis nodded.

“It’s Harry, right?” Jay asked.

Louis whipped around to look at her. “How did you-” And then he realized. “Lottie.”

“And Fizzy. But to be fair, they did say that you kept saying he was a friend. They just didn’t believe it.”

Louis sighed. “Yeah, it’s Harry.”

“How old is he?”

“He’s 21.”

“So, not as big as me and Dan.”

“No, but he’s also younger than Dan was when the two of you started dating.”

Jay frowned. “So?”

“So? So he’s still in school. He still lives with his parents. He’s- Um…”

He looked over at his mom, who was patiently waiting for him to continue.

Louis sighed. “Am I being an idiot?”

“A little bit. But age can be a funny thing to wrap your head around. It’s something that happens to everyone - you know, getting older - but the maturity doesn’t always follow. There are some new nurses I work with who seem like they’ve been doing this for years longer than I have just because of how mature they are. And there are also some people your age who could pass for high schoolers because of how immature they are.”

“That makes sense.”

“Fizzy said she had a class with Harry?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah. They already knew each other. Harry’s probably one of like, five people in this world who can take Fizzy on in a debate and give her a run for her money. She’d probably still win, but he wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

Jay smiled. “I got that impression from her, too. So, what is it that you’re afraid of here?”

Louis thought about it, something he’d been doing a lot of lately. “I don’t know,” he finally said.

Jay put a hand on Louis’ back and started rubbing it, hoping to show her support.

“I met his sister, though,” Louis said.

“Did you? And?”

“Well she pretty much hated me at first. She thought I was some guy creeping on her little brother.”

“And you changed her mind?”

“I guess I did. I mean, we had lunch together and left with each other’s numbers in our phones and a lot of tears in our eyes from the silly Harry stories she told me. But she’s brilliant, too.”

“So, and you can correct me if I’m wrong here, are you worried about what other people think?” Jay asked delicately.

“Maybe?” Louis finally replied. “I mean, anyone I’ve told has been skeptical, at best. Gemma came around after I talked to her. Liam and Zayn didn’t really know what to think, but they were at least nice to Harry when they first met him, and now we all actually hang out. I could tell Lottie thought it was weird, but by the end of the night, she had warmed up to the idea of me and Harry. Fizzy didn’t seem to mind all too much, and you don’t, either.”

“Of course I don’t. So Louis, listen to me very carefully. Fuck what other people think.”

“ _Oooh_!”

Louis and Jay both turned around and saw Ernest standing in the doorway. He’d been so quiet that neither of them had heard him come in.

“Ernest, what are you doing in here?” Jay asked.

“Dad said to ask if I could have apple juice.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll get it,” Louis said. He went to the fridge and grabbed the large bottle of juice. He poured some into a plastic cup and passed it to his little brother.

“Mom said a bad word,” Ernest said with a giggle. Then he turned around and went back to the living room, announcing to everyone, “Mom said a bad word!”

“I’ll put a dollar in the jar!” Jay yelled after him. She rolled her eyes and then said to Louis, “Forget the terrible twos. It’s the inconvenient eights you have to look out for. God, they really hear everything.”

Louis snorted and put the juice away. “You love them.”

“Of course. I love all of my babies.”

Louis went back to stand next to Jay at the counter.

“So back to what I was saying,” Jay said. “Just worry about you and Harry. Harry’s old enough that it’s not a problem for you to date him. Everyone’s a consenting adult, so if you want to be together, then do it. I didn’t let other people’s opinions get in the way of me and Dan, and now look at us: almost eight years married, with two annoying, I mean, adorable, young children together, and five other happy children to care for. I know it’s scary, but just know that you’ll always have our support if and when you ever do anything with Harry.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Louis whispered.

“You’re welcome. Let me know when your first date is.”

Louis grinned. “Will do.”

\---

After leaving his mom’s house, Louis sat on his own couch, trying to find something on TV to watch. There weren’t many options, but it was also one o’clock in the morning, so the choices were limited.

He’d just decided to give up and go to bed when his phone started ringing.

He frowned at the screen, not recognizing the number, but he answered anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Harry?” Louis sat up straight, feeling nervous. “What’s the matter?”

“Um, I sort of got into some trouble?”

“What kind of trouble? Where are you?”

Harry sighed. “The police station.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should all be thanking me right now, because I was thinking of doing this fic as chapters posted over several days. So at least you don't have to wait to find out what the hell Harry did, hahaha!


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter we've all been waiting for, so... enjoy!

The ride home was awkward to say the least.

“Thank you for picking me up,” Harry said.

“You want to explain what happened tonight?” Louis asked stiffly.

“I was at a frat party.”

“Lovely.”

“It was, actually. I was having a lot of fun. And then someone whipped out some coke right when the cops showed up and they started shoving people in the back of the cars. It was like a regular college movie.”

“Harry, do you think this is funny?” Louis asked. “You got arrested.”

“I wasn’t even in the room! I was in the kitchen, and when the cops came in, I got caught up in the stampede of everyone trying to get out through the back door. They didn’t have anything to hold me for. I mean, I’m 21, so I was legally allowed to be there, and I didn’t actually have any drugs in my system or in my possession. It’s fine.”

“Yeah, perfectly fine. A minor inconvenience, really, just had to spend a few hours with the lovely police officers.”

“Whatever,” Harry huffed.

“Real mature.”

“Oh, did you forget? I’m only 21. I’m supposed to act childish.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “You’re just full of jokes tonight, aren’t you?”

“I guess so, grandpa.”

Louis gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying not to feed into Harry’s tantrum, for lack of a better word to describe it.

He put his signal on to turn left.

When Harry noticed, he asked, “Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you home,” Louis answered, a bit confused.

“Wait, no! Don’t take me home!”

“Why?”

“Because I told my mom I’d be staying over Niall’s tonight. If I go home, she’ll know something happened.”

“So I’ll take you to Niall’s, then,” Louis sighed.

“Well, you can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I sort of lost Niall early on in the night, so I don’t know if he got arrested, too, or if he went home or what. And he’s not answering my texts, so I can’t go to his house if he’s not there, because then his parents will know something happened, and then they’ll tell my mom and step-dad, and I can’t let that happen.”

Louis rubbed his eyes as he drove by Harry’s development. “So where should I take you, then?”

“Your place?” Harry quietly suggested.

It wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

“Fine.”

“Thanks, Louis.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence.

When they got to Louis’ apartment, Harry followed him quietly inside.

“I’ll get you some sweats to change into,” Louis said, eyeing up Harry’s tight jeans and button-up shirt that was only halfway done.

“Thank you.” Harry sat on the couch. He kicked off his boots and leaned back into the cushions, dropping his head back.

Louis walked down the hall to his bedroom and just needed a minute to get his thoughts together.

Harry had gotten arrested. At a frat party. Because someone brought out drugs.

It was careless and irresponsible and just plain stupid.

But as mad as he wanted to be, he couldn’t. Because as smart and mature as Harry was, he was still 21. He was in college. This was the kind of stupid shit he was  _supposed_ to be doing. This is what that age group did, and Louis remembered fucking up when he was that age, too. Hell, all of his friends did, too. But, it’s not something he would ever do now.

This was all just a painful reminder of the age gap, the one that he’d been nearly past. Now… well now, he wasn’t so sure.

He took a deep breath. Then he pulled out some sweatpants and a T-shirt for Harry to sleep in.

He returned to the living room and passed the clothes over to him.

“I’m sorry for calling you,” Harry quietly said.

“It’s OK. I understand why you did. And, I want you to call me for things like that. You can always count on me, you know.”

Harry nodded. “And I’m sorry for being a brat in the car.”

Louis smiled. “Yeah, you kind of were.”

“Don’t be mad at me.”

Louis sighed and sat down next to Harry on the couch.

“I’m not mad, but I am-”

“Do  _not_ say you’re disappointed,” Harry warned.

Louis had to chuckle, because, admittedly, that  _had_ been what he was going to say.

“As if this didn’t already feel like I let down my parents and was about to get grounded, now you’re saying you’re ‘not mad, just disappointed.’”

“That’s not what I was going to say,” Louis lied.

Harry just raised an eyebrow.

“OK, maybe I was, but I mean, I’m also  _not_? Like, this is the kind of stuff you should be doing at your- Um...”

“What?” Harry asked. “At my age?”

Louis stayed silent.

“Is that what you were going to say, Louis?”

Louis sighed.

“Why do you always have to bring that up?”

“Well it’s a little hard not to right now, isn’t it?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, because you’ve never made a mistake.”

“Of course I have, Harry, but not like this one.”

“Wow, sorry that the mistakes I make aren’t good enough for you. Maybe I’ll learn when I get older.”

Harry dropped the sweats to the couch and stood up. He reached the center of the room and turned to face Louis again.

“This is always going to be an issue, isn’t it? Something that stands in our way of this going any further.”

“Further than what?” Louis asked. “We’re friends.”

“No, we’re not, Louis! Come on, you have to see that!”

“See what? We  _are_ friends!”

“And you think that’s all I want?” Harry roared. “Still? After all of this, you think I really just want to be your friend, Louis?”

“It was your idea to stay friends! That’s what  _you_ wanted!”

“No, it wasn't! I never wanted to just be your friend! Not once. But if that’s what you wanted, then fine. And over these last few months, I thought things were changing. I really thought we were on the way to something more, but you won’t let that happen, will you? You won’t! Because you’re a f-”

“What? I’m a what?”

“You’re a fucking coward,” Harry spat.

“Excuse me?” Louis asked, standing up. “I’m a coward?”

“Yes!”

Louis crossed his arms across his chest. “How am I a coward?”

“Because you keep using my age as a reason not to let me in. God, I wish you would let it go,” Harry scoffed. “Yes, I’m 21. I’m in grad school getting my degree and I procrastinate doing my homework. I still live with my parents and I go out with my friends and drink a lot. But you know what else? I take care of my car. I put gas in it and pay the insurance. I buy groceries for the house when I’m out. I had a practicum where I worked with kids. I have a job that gives me my main source of income. I’m a fucking adult, Louis.”

“Harry, I know you’re an adult.”

“Then fucking act like it! Treat me like one, for God’s sake. Treat me like your equal in this relationship, whatever level it’s at, and just, whatever image you have of me in your head, just get rid of it.”

“Fine, you want to be treated like an adult?” Louis yelled. “How’s this? What you did tonight was fucking stupid! How much of an idiot do you have to be to be busted at a frat party - how stereotypical, Harry, really - that has coke at it?”

“Yeah, let me have it!”

“When you called and said you were at the police station, I never felt so paralyzed with fear, scared that something horrible had happened. And then when I found out  _that_ was your reason for being down there, I couldn’t believe it. I thought you were smarter than that, Harry. But no, you had to really one-up everyone, didn’t you? Couldn’t just be a regular college kid and accidentally send a professor a stupid email or get caught prank calling the dean or get kicked out of a bar for having too much beer?”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Harry shouted. “The cops came in before I could even react. What else was I supposed to do?”

“Be aware of your surroundings? Know what’s going on at the party where you are? Don’t hang out with people who do that kind of shit? You had options, Harry, don’t fucking think that you didn’t.”

The two of them stood there, glaring at each other, practically daring each other to speak next.

Finally, Harry licked his lips and stared Louis down. “Sorry I’m such a fuck-up.”

Louis instantly deflated. He crossed the room and pulled Harry into a hug.

It took a minute, but Harry finally relaxed into it and wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist.

They stood there for a moment, just holding each other. And then Louis heard Harry sniffling.

“Are you upset?” he asked, even though the answer was pretty obvious.

Harry just nodded.

“Baby, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“No.”

Harry stepped back, just out of Louis’ embrace. He wiped his eyes and said, “Don’t call me that.”

“Call you what? Baby?”

“Yes. Not unless you’re going to do something.”

Louis stilled.

“Louis, do something. Please!”

Louis closed his eyes and wiped a hand across his face.

“You won’t do it, will you?”

Louis took a deep breath and looked up, right into Harry’s eyes. “Harry, I can’t,” he said softly.

Harry set his jaw and didn’t move an inch. “But I’m here. I’m right here and I’m- Louis, do you have any idea how much I want you? How badly I’ve wanted you since the first day you came into the coffee shop? I’m not a kid. I’m old enough to know what I want, and it’s  _you_.”

Louis pressed his lips together, holding himself back from saying ‘yes!’ to anything and everything that Harry wanted. He knew he couldn’t, that he shouldn’t.

Harry watched Louis carefully for another moment then dropped his head. He moved away from Louis and grabbed his boots, pulling them on.

“Where are you going?” Louis asked, breaking out of his daze.

“Home, I guess,” Harry answered. “I’ll call an Uber downstairs. I just can’t- I can’t do this. I thought I could, but… You’re not going to change your mind. And that’s fine, if that’s what you really feel, but I can’t be around you right now. It hurts too much.”

“Wait, Harry-”

“No, Louis, it’s fine. I promise. We’re fine. I just have to go home.”

Harry pulled Louis into a quick hug and then went to the door.

“For the record,” he said quietly, “I’ve known your age this entire time, and I’ve never stopped thinking about being with you.”

He looked over his shoulder at Louis, who still stood frozen in the same spot, and with one last sad smile, he exited the apartment, closing the door behind him.

The apartment was too quiet now, too still.

Louis dropped his face into his hands and let out a long groan.

He’d never been so frustrated in his life. But it wasn’t like it was out of nowhere. It was bound to come down to the ultimatum.

Louis sighed. Just this afternoon, he’d been thinking about how to make the switch from friends to something more, and now he just didn’t know. Harry just had so much more life to experience and more growing to do.

_How are we in such different phases of life?_

Harry’s words from months ago came screaming back at him. And yeah, Harry had had a point then, and that still stood. Realistically, they weren’t so different. Half the time, Harry was more mature than he was.

_Not your fault you were born in the wrong year._

Is that all it really was? Were they just born in the wrong year? They had so much in common and had similar goals and plans for their future, and… was it really going to come down to the age difference? Harry had said it: he was using his age as a reason for them not to be together, and when he looked at the bigger picture, that was the only thing they couldn’t agree on. And he knew Harry didn’t have an issue with it; never had.

_I think you should give it a shot._

If Gemma thought he should, and Harry thought he should, then maybe...

“What am I doing?” he asked himself. “Harry!”

He ran out of the apartment, not bothering to put on shoes, hoping he could catch Harry before he made it outside.

He didn’t have to worry about that, though, because he didn’t even make it five steps out his apartment door.

In fact, Louis ran out so fast that he didn’t realize that Harry hadn’t even left the hallway. He had taken a seat just outside the door and was scrolling on his phone.

Louis actually tripped over him, but caught himself before he hit the ground. He stood up straight and stared at Harry, who looked very relaxed in his position.

“What the fuck?”

“Took you long enough,” Harry teased.

“What? You knew I’d come running out?”

“Louis, I’m a psychology major,” Harry said as if it was obvious. “I saw it in your eyes that you were having a conflict, and, well, I hoped. I wasn’t sure, though, so I only gave myself five minutes before leaving. You made it in less than four.”

“Thanks for the confidence.”

“Can you blame me?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Yup.”

Louis sighed. “You really want to be with me?”

Harry smiled. “You don’t listen when I talk, do you?”

“I do, I promise. It’s just, I don’t get it. You could be with anybody.”

Harry rolled his eyes and stood up. “I know I could. But you’re the only person I’ve thought about, in any way, for the last eight months. I know what I want.”

“And that’s me?” Louis asked, still not quite believing it.

“Yeah. And I’ll prove it.”

Before Louis could say anything else, Harry leaned in, capturing Louis’ lips with his, and suddenly, all was right with the world.

Harry’s soft lips against his made it impossible for him to focus on anything else.

Louis couldn’t feel the cold tile floor beneath his bare feet, couldn’t hear the wind blowing outside, couldn’t sense anything… nothing but Harry.

\---

Louis woke up the next morning to an alarm that was definitely not his.

“What the fuck,” he groaned. “Turn it off!”

“Sorry.”

He turned to see Harry grabbing his phone to turn the alarm off. And… oh, right. Harry had stayed over.

After everything that happened last night, both of them had been too exhausted to have an actual discussion, so Louis just pulled him back into his apartment and to his bedroom, where they fell asleep almost immediately.

Harry, dressed just in his boxers, stood up and stretched.

“What time is it?” Louis asked, yawning.

“5:30. I have work, though.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry. I kind of forgot, what with, you know, everything.”

“It’s OK. Do you want to meet for lunch today?”

Harry lit up. “Really?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah. That’s what boyfriends do, right?”

Harry quickly got back on the bed. He crawled over to Louis, straddled him where he still lay under the blanket and caught his lips in a quick peck.  

“Boyfriends? Really?” Harry asked when he pulled back.

“Yeah, really.” Louis ran his hands up and down Harry’s bare legs. “We lost enough time because of me. We need to make up for it, don’t you think?”

Harry nodded and leaned back in, kissing Louis square on the mouth. This one lasted just a bit longer, and got a little more heated. Harry breathed in deeply as he brought a hand to Louis’ cheek. Louis moved his hands up to grip Harry’s waist.

After Louis slipped his tongue into Harry’s mouth, Harry could only stand it for another moment before reluctantly pulling away.

“I really do have to go,” he whispered.

“So go, then,” Louis whispered back.

“Mean.” Harry pecked Louis once more before crawling off and heading for the bathroom.

“You can use my toothbrush if you want!” Louis called after him.

“Ooh, sharing a toothbrush already,” Harry joked. “What’s next, you’re going to ask my parents for their blessing to propose?”

“Well, I already have Gemma’s.”

And then he slapped a hand over his mouth. He hadn’t meant to say that.

Harry came slowly back into the room, toothbrush in hand. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean you have Gemma’s blessing?”

“Um…” Louis stalled.

“Is that what you talked about yesterday? Her blessing to date me?”

“...No?”

“Louis, tell me right now.”

“OK, she, well, technically she didn’t say I had her blessing. But she did say she wouldn’t have an issue with me dating you.”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Wow. I’m shocked. Gemma never admits when she’s wrong.”

“I was waiting for her to tell me she was kidding and then pour her soda over my head or something, but she didn’t.”

“Interesting. Good job, Tomlinson.”

“Thanks, Styles.”

Harry went back to the bathroom and Louis heard him freshening up.

When he returned a few minutes later, he said, “So, I can just wear my jeans from last night to work, but can I borrow a shirt?”

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

“Thanks.”

Harry went into Louis’ closet and emerged with a long-sleeved black T-shirt. He pulled it on, much to Louis’ disappointment. He wouldn’t have minded Harry staying shirtless.

“Lucky you live so close to the shop.” Harry quickly kissed Louis goodbye. “I’ll text you when I find out when my lunch break is.”

“Sounds good. Have a good day.”

“Thanks.”

Louis sighed happily when he heard the apartment door close a minute later.

He had a feeling today was going to be a good day.

\---

When Louis walked into the coffee shop that afternoon to pick up Harry for lunch, he shouldn’t have been surprised at the slow clap that formed from the employees.

“Bravo!” Johnny cheered. “Bravo!”

Louis laughed as Jesy and Perrie joined in, and also at the bewildered looks on the customers’ faces.

Harry stood behind the counter, turning beet red at his friends’ reactions.

“Why don’t I get that kind of reaction all the time?” Louis asked, walking up to the counter.

“Because you don’t make an honest man out of our Harold here all the time,” Jesy replied. “About time, too.”

“Made an honest man out of him… You make it sound like we got married.”

“With the way Harry falls for people, you might as well have,” Perrie said with a wink.

“OK, that’s good,” Harry cut in. “Louis, let’s go.”

“Oh, I think we embarrassed him, girls,” Johnny joked. “We should behave next time.”

“You haven’t behaved since you were in the womb.”

“Yeah, and even then, I gave my mom bad heartburn.” Johnny shook his head. “Poor woman.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Come on, babe,” he said, taking Louis’ hand and pulling him toward the door.

“Babe!” Of course Perrie heard that. “He’s already calling him ‘babe.’ Our boy’s all grown up.”

“If I didn’t value my job so much, I’d pour coffee on all of you,” Harry called over his shoulder as they walked away.

“No, you wouldn’t!” Jesy called after him. “You wouldn’t want to waste the resources.”

“I hate that she’s right,” Harry muttered. They were outside the shop now, away from teasing friends. “Anyway. Hi.”

Harry leaned forward, kissing Louis softly.

“Hi,” Louis said. “Ready to eat?”

“Yes. I’m so hungry. We’re going to the diner, right?”

Louis nodded and they headed toward the diner around the corner.

“So how’s your day been so far?” Louis asked while they walked.

“Eh. Not my best.”

“Why?”

“Well, I kept screwing up orders because I was really distracted by this guy.”

“Oh yeah? Do I know him?”

“Probably not,” Harry said. “I mean, he’s really handsome and funny and he asked me to be his boyfriend this morning.”

Louis nodded. “I see.”

“Yeah. And I kept thinking about him instead of the milk that people wanted in their coffee or the kinds of muffins they wanted. Oh, well.”

“Well I’m sure that guy is very sorry for distracting you.”

Harry shrugged. “I’m not. I mean, it was just nice to be able to think about him. And at least my thoughts were clean. Well,  _most_ of them.”

Louis stared. “You were having dirty thoughts about me at work?”

Harry shrugged again. “Can you blame me?”

He pecked Louis on the cheek and walked a little faster to get to the diner.

Louis just smiled, happy to follow Harry’s lead. In more ways than one.

\---

Louis walked Harry back to work after they ate, their hands clasped tightly between them.

Just as they reached the building, though, just out of sight of the front door, Louis pulled them to a stop.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.

“Nothing. Just wanted to kiss you goodbye.”

Harry smiled. “I think that might be OK.”

Louis stepped forward, backing Harry up to the wall behind him. He put a hand on Harry’s cheek, sweeping his thumb softly across it before leaning in.

Harry reached a hand up, lightly gripping Louis’ wrist as he waited for Louis to close the gap.

Louis put his other hand on Harry’s hip, giving it a gentle squeeze as his lips first pressed against Harry’s.

Harry kissed him back eagerly, relieved they could now do this whenever they wanted, and for the most part, wherever they wanted. He moved his hand from around Louis’ wrist and wrapped both arms around Louis’ shoulders. He parted his lips, happy when Louis slowly slipped his tongue inside.

Harry pulled himself closer, sucking on Louis’ tongue as his arms tightened around Louis.

He heard Louis sigh as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss just slightly. The hand that was on Harry’s hip moved around to his lower back. It slid under Harry’s shirt and started moving upward. His fingertips walked across Harry’s skin, starting to give him chills at the sensation.

After another minute of just standing there, in their own world, they pulled apart.

Harry leaned his head back against the wall behind him. “You weren’t kidding about making up for lost time, were you?”

Louis laughed. “No, I really wasn’t. Which reminds me, what are you doing Saturday night?”

“Um…” Harry said with a smile, “I could probably move some things around if the offer was right.”

“Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me?” Louis asked.

Harry pretended to think about it. “I guess that would be OK.”

Louis grinned. “Good.” He leaned in and kissed Harry once more, this one a bit more chaste. “Have a good rest of your day.”

“I will. You, too.” Harry kissed Louis again before unwrapping his arms.

“I’ll see you in the morning for coffee?” Louis asked, taking a step back.

“You better. My Mondays don’t start right without you, you know.”

“Same here, babe. Definitely same here.”

\---

“Why did I let you talk me into this again?” Louis asked on Saturday afternoon.

“It was your idea!”

“Oh. Right.”

Louis and Harry were at the roller skating rink and had just finished lacing up their skates. Louis tried to stand up, and felt extremely wobbly.

“God, I haven’t skated since like, eighth grade.”

“I used to skate all the time,” Harry told him. “It was a good way to let off steam by, you know, rolling around in a circle and going as fast as you could.”

“Of course you’re good at skating,” Louis grumbled.

“I didn’t say I was good. I mean, yeah, I can stand up, but there were a lot of crashes into the wall involved with it.”

“Oh. OK, then.”

They slowly walked over to the rink, and stood at the gate that would let them on.

“OK, Super Star,” Louis said. “Go ahead.”

“I’m not going first.”

“You’re better than I am.  You have to go first.”

“But I’m not excellent. Or even decent.”

“Harry.”

“Louis.”

“Excuse me.”

They both turned around to see who was talking to them, but realized they had to look down to find the source of the voice.

“Can I go?” It was a little girl, probably around nine years old, looking impatient to begin skating.

“Oh. Sorry,” Louis told her. He and Harry both backed up so she could get by, and, as luck would have it, she began skating away, moving quickly and easily across the floor.

“Show-off,” Louis mumbled.

“Well now we have to go. Come on.”

Harry stepped very carefully onto the floor, looking really unsteady. He grabbed onto the wall until he could straighten up and then gave Louis a small smile.  
  
“There we go. OK. Your turn.”

Louis frowned, glaring at the floor like it was out to get him.

“Louis, come on,” Harry said. “Just relax and step out. Grab the wall.”

Louis took a deep breath and then carefully put a foot onto the floor.

Of course, he immediately lost his balance and started to fall, and would have, if Harry hadn’t shot a hand out and grabbed his arm, keeping him upright.

“Fuck,” Louis said.

“Louis, there are children around.”

“Yeah, and they’re kicking my ass at this.”

Louis stood up and held onto the wall until he felt more comfortable.

“OK, let’s try this.” Harry started rolling forward, following the flow of the other people.

“Stop going so fast!”

Harry looked back over his shoulder. “I’ve gone, like, a foot in the last fifteen seconds. You’re Speedy Gonzalez, remember? Not me.”

“You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“Probably not. Now come on.”

Harry held out his hand, and Louis took it, already nervous to get too far out.

“I’m gonna break a hip or something,” Louis muttered.

Harry snorted and started laughing, and it was a good thing he still had a hand on the wall, otherwise, they both would’ve gone crashing to the floor.

“You can’t say anything funny while we’re trying to do this,” Harry told him.

“Fine. I’ll just be quiet, then.”

"Thank you for being so considerate." 

They went carefully around the rink, moving at a slow pace. It was when Louis tried to get brave and let go of Harry’s hand that he fell.

He hit the ground with a thud, and heard Harry asking him repeatedly if he was OK.

“Yeah, I think I’m OK. My pride hurts more than anything else.”

He looked up at Harry to see him smiling down at him. “Do you want some help to get up?”

“No, that’s OK.”

Louis sat up and then got onto his knees. Then he pushed up onto one leg and then the other. When he was standing upright again, he let out a sigh. “Well, OK, then. Maybe I’ll be a little better now.”

He wasn’t.

Over the next twenty minutes or so, Louis and Harry kept going around the rink, and Louis fell two more times, with a few close calls, as well. Harry fell once, and since he refused to let go of the wall, that was only because Louis pulled him down with him.

After they went down one side of the rink without falling, Harry said, “OK. I’m going to go around this whole thing once without falling. And I’m not holding the wall.”

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yup. OK. Here I go.” Harry started inching forward, holding his hands out to the side for balance.

Louis followed behind him, moving even more slowly, watching Harry go. And he had to say, Harry was doing a pretty good job at staying up. As he approached the curve, Harry started to move a little faster.

“I’m doing it!” Harry called back over his shoulder.

“You got this!” Louis told him.

He didn’t.

Once he finished the curve, Louis watched as Harry went a little too fast over the floor. He could see the exact moment when Harry got nervous about his speed, and that was the exact second that his feet slid right out from under him.

Harry toppled over, starfished out on the floor, and Louis would have laughed if he didn’t think that fall actually hurt.

He made his way over and smiled down at Harry, who just sighed.

“They have milkshakes here,” Louis said. “Can I interest you in one of those?”

“Please?”

Harry slowly got up and they headed back to the safe carpeted area. They went to the lockers where they’d stored their shoes and slowly changed, both of them feeling stiffness in their legs and backs.

“Well, now I remember why I don’t skate more,” Louis said after they returned their skates and started heading to the milkshake stand.

“I think I’m going to skate more.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m not good at it,” Harry answered easily. “So I have to keep trying to get better.”

“I guess. Seems like it’ll be frustrating, though. Why not just spend your time doing things you’re already good at?”

“Because part of what makes life exciting is trying and accomplishing new things. I mean, how would anyone ever get really good at anything if they stuck to their comfort zone?”

As they stood in line, waiting to order their milkshakes, Louis looked over at Harry, who was reading everything the stand had to offer.

“Hell, how would anyone learn to do anything if they never acted because they were afraid of failing?” Harry asked without taking his eyes off the sign of milkshake flavors.

And, well, that was true. The man was clever, no doubt about that. And this conversation was just another reason why Louis was still having some trouble understanding that, yes, Harry really was his date tonight, and really was his boyfriend.

He stared just a moment too long, though, because Harry turned his head, catching him in the act.

Louis just smiled, unashamed in it.

“What?” Harry asked quietly.

“Nothing.” Louis turned to look away.

“What?” Harry asked again.

“Nothing!”

Harry took a step forward, close enough to nuzzle Louis’ neck.

Louis wrapped an arm around Harry’s waist, holding him closely as they moved forward in line.

“I’m really happy you asked me out,” Harry said, still hiding his face.

Louis smiled. “I’m just glad you really said ‘yes.’”

Harry pulled back, giving Louis a funny look. “Why would I have said ‘no’?”

Louis shrugged the shoulder that Harry wasn’t next to. “I don’t know. Thought maybe you’d come to your senses.”

Harry snorted. “No offense, but the only one who came to his senses around here was you.”

“I know, but you didn’t have to rub it in.”

Harry leaned back in and kissed Louis softly.

Remembering they were in line, still surrounded by lots of families with children, it didn’t last for too long, and when they pulled apart, Harry took a step back, settling for just holding Louis’ hand instead of completely invading his space.

“So… After this, we can go back to your place, right?”

“Uh, ye-yeah,” Louis stuttered. “Yeah, definitely.”

Harry smiled. “OK.”

Louis wondered if Harry could sense how his heart was jack-rabbiting in his chest.

He was almost positive he could.

\---

After they left the skating rink, they stopped at a diner for food, and then, as promised, they went back to Louis’s apartment.

“Can I get you anything?” Louis asked, kicking off his shoes.

“No, I’m ok.”

“OK.”

Harry took off his boots and put them by the door. Then he turned around and saw Louis still standing awkwardly in the same spot.

“What’s the matter?” Harry asked.

“Nothing!” Louis answered a little too quickly.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Um…”

“You’re nervous,” Harry realized.

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

Louis pressed his lips together and scratched at the back of his neck.

Harry walked closer to him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “Babe, why are you nervous? It’s just me.”

“I know,” Louis said, putting his hands on Harry’s hips and rubbing his thumbs up and down. “I just…”

Harry waited patiently for Louis to get his thoughts out.

“I just don’t know what to do here,” Louis confessed.

“Why?”

“Well, just because I uh, I just don’t, um… Like, I just don’t know what your expectations are.”

“I want you to fuck me,” Harry said simply.

Louis started coughing on air then, because he was completely caught off-guard.

“Breathe,” Harry instructed.

“I need to sit down.”

Harry chuckled as he followed Louis over to the couch.

“Why is it so surprising that after our date - which, by the way, was easily the best I’ve ever been on - I would want to have sex with you?”

Louis just shrugged.

Harry watched him for a moment before it dawned on him.

“Oh, I get it…”

Louis looked over at Harry. “Get what?”

“Louis, I’m not a baby. And you know what? I’m not some blushing virgin, either, because, believe it or not, I’ve had sex before.”

Louis groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “H, I honestly don’t know if it makes it easier or harder to know that you’ve been with other guys. That they’ve had the chance to kiss you, touch you, make you…”

He cut himself off with a shudder, not wanting to let his mind go further.

“You know,” Harry said, leaning more into Louis’ side, “you could just take any thoughts you’re having of me with other guys and replace them with thoughts of what you and I could be doing right now.”

“Harry…”

Harry put a hand on Louis’ upper thigh. He whispered, “you could have me on my knees in front of you right now. You know… Since you’re such an old man it would be tough for you to get up off the floor.”

Louis snorted. “Harry...”

“Or, you could have me bent over the couch while you drill me from the back, you know.”

“H.”

“Or, I could just ride you. Let me do all the work since I’m just so young and full of energy.”

Harry pressed a soft kiss to Louis’ jaw, right near his ear. Then he made his way down the side of Louis’ neck, gently kissing and sucking the skin there.

He loved how he could hear Louis’ breathing hitch, growing more unsteady with each press of his lips.

“Harry…” Louis whispered.

Harry hummed, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, he moved his hand slowly up Louis’ thigh, closer to his groin with each second.

When Harry could finally feel Louis’ dick through his pants, he smiled to himself that it was stiffening up.

In one fluid motion, Harry moved his hand off Louis and instead put it on the couch cushion on the other side of him. Then he swung one leg across Louis’s lap and straddled him.

Now that he had a good look at Louis’ face, he could see just how into this Louis already was. His face was flushed, his bottom lip was pulled between his teeth and it sounded like he was having difficulty breathing correctly.

Not bothering to give Louis a second to adjust, Harry leaned in, capturing Louis’ lips with his own.

They were soft and perfect, and moved easily against his.

Harry put both of his hands against Louis’ chest, letting his fingers walk their way to the buttons on Louis’ shirt.

As he worked on the shirt, he could feel Louis’ hands creeping up his legs and around to his ass. He let out a quiet squeal when Louis took both cheeks in his hands and gave them a firm squeeze.

He finished with the buttons, then pulled away for just a second.

“I think you’re starting to like this,” Harry said.

“Yeah, I might remember now what to do.”

“Oh really?”

Louis nodded.

Then, so quickly Harry almost couldn’t process it, Louis flipped them around so that Harry was now laying on the couch and Louis was kneeling between his open legs.

Louis pulled his shirt off, dropping it to the floor. Then he went for Harry’s belt, undoing it in record time.

“Get your shirt off,” Louis ordered.

Harry fumbled with getting his own shirt off as Louis unzipped Harry’s jeans and pulled them down.

“No underwear, huh?” Louis asked, looking appreciative of what was now in front of him.

Harry pulled off his shirt and tossed it to ground.

“Nope.”

“Good.” Then he quickly dove in, licking a long stripe up the underside of Harry’s cock before taking the tip into his mouth.

Harry gasped, not expecting Louis to start moving so fast. But no, that was definitely Louis bobbing up and down on his cock when just minutes before, he’d been nervous to even touch Harry in a way that might be deemed inappropriate.

“Fuck, Lou,” Harry said. He grabbed a couch cushion in one hand and let the other roam his bare chest, pinching his nipples as he tried not to buck up into Louis’ mouth.

He stupidly decided to look down, almost coming right there.

Louis was moving up and down on his dick, cheeks hollowed out, making slurping noises that were slowly getting louder.

“Louis, this is going to be over really fast if you don’t stop soon,” Harry warned.

Louis looked up and winked, almost pushing Harry right over the edge.

Fortunately though, Louis pulled off, and instead, started kissing his way back up Harry’s body.

He started with his upper thighs before moving toward his lower stomach.

“You have the most beautiful body,” Louis said. “Did you know that?”

“Lou…” Harry whispered, starting to get squirmy.

“I mean it.” Louis put his hands on Harry’s love handles, the ones he’d been trying to get rid of since high school. “Even the parts of you that most people don’t like about themselves are absolutely gorgeous.”

“I’m already going to sleep with you,” Harry joked. “You don’t have to lie about liking my baby fat.”

“I’m not lying.” As if to prove his point, Louis softly kissed each love handle. Then he started up Harry’s torso. “And you have four nipples. As if the first two weren’t gorgeous enough.”

“They’re not even real nipples. They don’t do anything.”

“Shame. Guess I’ll just pay extra attention to these two, then.”

Louis very slowly leaned in, getting just centimeters from Harry’s nipple. Harry was on edge just from the suspense, waiting with bated breath for Louis to fucking do something.

Then Louis looked up and, without breaking eye contact, flicked his tongue across the sensitive bud.

Harry could practically feel all the air leave his body at the sensation, and that was about all Harry could do because he was so transfixed by Louis’ movements.

Louis didn’t look away as he licked Harry’s nipple again before rolling his tongue around it and sucking it between his lips.

Now Harry was really getting squirmy. He dropped his head back against the couch and shifted his hips, trying to feel some kind of pressure against his cock. He also moved one leg so that it wrapped around Louis’ body, draping across his lower back.

He could feel Louis move to his other nipple, but didn’t have the guts to look back down again, knowing that if he did, he wouldn’t last any longer. It got even worse when he felt Louis wrap a hand around his dick and slowly start stroking.

“Lou, stop,” Harry moaned. “I’m seriously going to come and I really want your dick in me when I do.”

“Oh, do you now?” Louis asked, as if he wasn’t aware that Harry was seriously close to combusting.

Thankfully, Louis moved his hand, but kept kissing up Harry’s body, making his way across Harry’s collarbones and up his throat.

“Think we should move to the bedroom?” Louis caught Harry’s lips in one more kiss.

Harry nodded. “You’re wearing a bit too much, don’t you think?” He looked down at Louis’ jeans and briefs, which he was still wearing.

“Oh. Right.”

Louis stood up and quickly yanked off his jeans, kicking them off. Then, he slowly pulled his briefs down, letting his hard dick spring free.

Harry’s jaw dropped at the sight of Louis’ cock, what might hopefully be inside him soon.

“Well, I think I’ll move on to my room,” Louis teased, backing up toward the hallway. “I don’t know if you’d want to join me or not, though.”

At that, Harry’s eyes snapped up. Then a sly grin slowly overtook his face.

Louis laughed and hurried down the hallway. He could hear Harry on his heels.

When Louis got to his room, he turned around and couldn’t even catch his breath before Harry was pulling him into his arms and into a rough kiss.

“How did I know that you would look incredible naked?” Harry asked, backing them toward the bed.

“Because you’re just so smart, I guess?” Louis sat down on the mattress and leaned back, propping his body up on his forearms. He took a lot of pride in the hungry look Harry was giving him. “You gonna join me?”

“In a second.”

Harry walked to the bed and got down on his knees by it. Then he pulled Louis closer to the edge of the mattress and sucked the tip of Louis’ cock into his mouth.

Louis sighed and lay all the way back as Harry worked him over.

Louis could feel Harry swirling his tongue around his cock as he moved down as far as he could. Then Harry moved his head back up, letting his lips drag as he did. When he went down again, he hollowed out his cheeks and sank down just a bit farther than he had before.

It took a few minutes, but then Louis felt his cock hit the back of Harry’s throat, and he let out a long groan.

“Fuck,” Louis said.

Harry pulled off just for a second, and told Louis, “We can whenever you’re ready.”

Louis looked down at Harry, who was bringing Louis’ dick back between his lips.

“Get on the bed, then,” Louis challenged.

Harry somehow managed to smile with a cock in his mouth, and pulled off with one final drag of his lips.

He climbed on the bed just as Louis got off, going over to his bedside drawer, pulling out a condom and bottle of lube.

“How do you want me?” Harry asked.

“Definitely hands and knees,” Louis said with a smirk.

Harry grinned before quickly getting into the desired position.

Louis knelt on the bed behind Harry and drizzled lube over three of his fingers. He threw the bottle on the bed, out of the corner of his eye seeing it land somewhere near the pillows. Then he circled Harry’s rim with one finger, massaging it gently before slowly starting to push in.

He heard Harry take a quick breath at the intrusion, waiting for Harry to tell him if it felt uncomfortable.

But Harry didn’t say anything; in fact, he wiggled his hips a few times, stretching himself out around Louis’ finger.

Using that as a ‘go ahead’ signal, Louis started pushing his finger in and out of Harry, and after another minute or two, was able to add a second finger.

He twisted his wrist and curved his fingers around. Then he ducked his head, kissing gently along Harry’s lower spine.

“Lou, I’m ready,” Harry cried out, moving back against Louis’ fingers.

“Not yet, babe.”

“Lou, come  _on_.”

“Soon. I promise.” Louis spread his fingers out, turning them around in Harry’s hole. Then he slipped in a third finger.

Harry groaned and pushed back against them, getting frustrated at how long this was taking.

Louis enjoyed watching it, but he also wanted to get his dick inside of Harry as soon as possible. So he picked up the pace just a bit.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” he asked, fucking his fingers in and out of Harry quickly.

Harry nodded. “Yes.  _Please_.”

With a few more thrusts with his fingers and a last kiss to Harry’s back, Louis pulled out and reached for the condom.

He rolled it on with ease and then got into position behind Harry.

As Louis pressed in, he knew immediately that there would never be a better feeling than this. He slowly sank in deeper, moving just centimeters at a time, because he still wasn’t convinced Harry was fully ready.

“Lou, oh, my God,” Harry moaned. Then he dropped down to his forearms.

“Are you OK?” Louis asked. He stopped moving for just a second.

“Yeah, I’m perfect. You feel so fucking good.”

_Oh._ Louis kept pushing in, then.

Once Louis was all the way in, he draped himself over Harry’s body, resting his chest against Harry’s back. Louis kissed the back of his neck and rested one hand on Harry’s hip, rubbing his thumb in small circles so Harry could adjust.

After a moment, Harry started doing what he did before: wiggling his hips around to help with the stretching.

Louis gave a tentative thrust, pulling out about an inch and sliding back in.

“Keep going,” Harry told him.

Well, then.

Louis pulled out a bit more and pushed back in. He slowly built up a rhythm of out and in, the whole time listening carefully for any signs of discomfort from Harry.

He didn’t hear any, and based on the way Harry was fisting the sheets between his fingers, Louis imagined it was just the opposite, really: Harry was extremely comfortable.

He established an easy rhythm, moving in and out of Harry at a calm pace.

“Lou, you can go faster, you know,” Harry said after a few minutes.

It wasn’t like it was a surprise. Louis had sensed Harry was getting a bit restless.

So he decided to go a bit faster. And Harry started to get louder.

“Lou,” Harry moaned, hiding his face in the sheets. “You feel amazing.”

“You feel pretty damn perfect, too, baby.”

Harry moaned again, this time, probably at the term of endearment. He turned his head and looked up at Louis, nothing but pure pleasure and desire in his eyes.

It was…  _electrifying_ to say the least, and it made Louis want to give Harry the best night of his life, right here in this bed.

Louis rested his forehead against the side of Harry’s head, now ready to step it up. He shifted his aim as he fucked into Harry, looking for his prostate.

A few minutes later, Harry let out a loud gasp and then sank all the way down to the bed, his face now completely hidden from Louis.

Louis aimed for that spot again, knowing he’d found what he was looking for. He relaxed against Harry, feeling himself almost melt into him as he thrusted in and out. He shifted one leg so it hitched around Harry’s hip, giving him a deeper angle.

Once he was settled, he built his rhythm back up. Soon, he was absolutely pounding away at Harry’s ass.

Louis heard Harry whimper with each thrust and watched as he tightened his hold on the sheets so hard his knuckles turned white.

“Louis, oh, my God!” Harry cried out.

“You like that, babe?”

“Yes! Louis, fuck me harder!”

“Are you sure?” Louis asked, even though he was already picking himself up so he was held up on one hand. His other hand was creeping up Harry’s back.

“Yes! I can take it; please!”

That was all he needed.

He took Harry’s curls in his hand and pulled back so that Harry was up against Louis’ chest again, but now that Louis had changed his position, Harry had to change his, as well.

He propped himself up on his forearms and pushed up with one of his arms as well, so his torso was tilted, but his lower half was still on the bed.

Louis slowed down for just a moment. He ducked his head and turned Harry’s so that he could kiss him quickly. Then he went back to his brutal pace.

“Oh, my God,” Harry moaned, feeling Louis’ cock driving in and out of him, and the hold on his hair growing tighter whenever he shifted.

The new angle they were in still let Louis get in nice and deep, but Harry had to make sure to stay up now, otherwise it was going to hurt a little bit. And, well, Harry hadn’t realized he’d liked that until tonight.

“I’m really close,” Harry admitted. The feeling of Louis moving in and out of him, the friction on his cock from the mattress beneath him and the rough pull on his hair was not making it possible for Harry to last much longer.

For Louis, it seemed like a challenge now, to see how fast he could make Harry come. He kept his hips moving and then hid his face in the crook of Harry’s neck. He pulled the skin there into his mouth and started sucking, sure to leave a red mark behind.

Harry groaned at the added sensation and before he could even let out another whimper, he felt himself coming with a loud cry.

Louis felt the tightening around his cock as Harry found his release and slowed down a bit just working Harry through his orgasm.

When he was sure Harry was done, he pulled out and ripped off the condom. Then he jerked himself off, only needing a few pulls before he came all over Harry’s ass.

He saw Harry shudder at the feeling, but he was also smiling and pulling his lower lip between his teeth, so Louis was sure it was a good reaction.

After Louis was done, he took a deep breath and collapsed next to Harry just so he could get feeling in his arms again.

Harry shifted around so he could face Louis. “So that was good.”

Louis snorted. “It was pretty damn spectacular, I think.” He looked over at Harry and brushed a stray curl off his face.

“I’m all sticky,” Harry said a few minutes later after they were quiet for too long.

Louis nodded and then climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom. He got a washcloth and soaked it in warm water before returning.

He wiped Harry off and scrubbed at the wet spot on the comforter, getting up what he could.

“Sorry,” Harry said after Louis threw the towel in the hamper. He turned over onto his back with a slight pout on his face. 

“Sorry?” Louis smirked. Then he got onto the bed and straddled Harry. “You think I’m mad that I made you come that hard? That you got my bed all dirty?”

Harry blushed. “No.”

“Good. Because I’m not.” He ducked down and gave Harry a sweet kiss. “So, do you want to stay over?”

Harry smiled. “More than anything.”

“Also good.”

Louis got up just long enough to turn off the light, then got back into bed. He pulled Harry over to his side so they could avoid the wet spot and cuddled him close to his chest.

“Good night, Louis,” Harry whispered as they got comfortable.

Louis kissed the top of Harry’s head. “Good night, baby.”

\---

Louis knew that waking up naked with Harry would be wonderful, but waking up naked with Harry’s hand around his cock had to be damn near perfect.

Louis shifted his hips, feeling Harry’s fist moving slowly up and down his dick. He was definitely hard, and based on the feeling against his thigh, Louis guessed that Harry was hard, too.

“Careful, baby,” Louis said quietly. “If you don’t stop that, I’ll think you’re ready to go again.”

“I am,” Harry mumbled against Louis’ sweaty skin. “Always want you. Always want to touch you. Can’t get enough of you.”

Louis ducked his head, nosing at the top of Harry’s head. When Harry looked up, pulling away from Louis’ chest, Louis caught Harry’s lips in a rough kiss. He could hear Harry whimper when Louis shoved his tongue into his mouth and had to stop himself from grinning at the reaction he got out of this boy, at the noises he got from him after quite thoroughly fucking him – if he did say so himself.

Louis put one hand on the side of Harry’s face, making sure their kiss didn’t break as he rolled them over so Louis was hovering over him once again.

“How do you want it?” Louis asked as he moved to Harry’s neck.

Harry gasped when Louis bit down lightly on the skin at the base of his throat.

Louis hummed as he pulled off. “Harry?”

“Just like this,” Harry whispered.

“Sounds good.”

Louis shifted back so he could reach Harry’s chest without having to strain his neck. He kissed down his long torso, licking at Harry’s two regular nipples and nibbling at the other ones.

When he reached Harry’s cock, he didn’t hesitate before pulling it between his lips. He sucked at the head before sinking down just a bit.

Louis looked up to see Harry squirming already. His hands were out to his sides, fisting in the sheets.

Louis moved down, but kept his eyes on Harry’s body. When he began bobbing his head, Harry’s back started arching.

“Lou,” Harry whimpered.

He pulled off just long enough to ask for the lube before wrapping his lips around Harry’s dick again.

Harry fumbled around the bed, his fingers grasping for the bottle. He finally found it between the pillows and tossed it down the bed.

Louis kept sucking on Harry as he reached over for the lube. He drizzled it onto three of his fingers, and could slide two of them easily into Harry, as he was still pretty open from last night.

He slowed down his pace on Harry’s cock so that the speed of his head and his hand could match. He moved them both slowly, wanting Harry to feel the drag of his fingers moving in and out of him and his mouth moving around him.

“Louis, oh my God,” Harry moaned.

Louis watched as Harry moved both of his hands to his chest, rolling his nipples between his fingers.

Just the sight of it got to Louis, and he dropped his hips into the mattress, needing some kind of friction for himself. As he did, he squeezed a third finger into Harry, who groaned at the new addition.

He started rolling his hips, riding Louis’ fingers and helping with the stretch. It took a few movements before Louis shifted his aim so he could hit Harry’s prostate. When he did, Harry immediately stilled, the only parts of him left to move being his toes as they curled into the mattress.

“Louis, please fuck me,” Harry pleaded.

Louis smirked and bobbed up and down on Harry’s cock a few more times before pulling off entirely.

He slid his fingers out and went into his bedside drawer, pulling out another condom.

“Here, let me,” Harry said, reaching for it.

Louis passed it over and Harry quickly unwrapped it. Louis stood closer to the bed so Harry would be able to roll it onto him.

Harry shifted closer to the edge of the mattress, but, instead of putting the condom on, he quickly sucked Louis’ dick into his mouth.

“Fuck,” Louis cried out, caught by surprise.

He watched Harry suck him off, moving his head more quickly than Louis had moved his. He had already been pretty hard, but this was bringing Louis almost to the edge.

“Harry, I’m gonna come. Stop.”

Harry reluctantly pulled off, but kissed the tip of Louis’ dick before putting the condom on it.

“Thank you,” Louis said. He ducked his head and caught Harry’s lips in a rough kiss.

Then he climbed back on the bed and sat himself between Harry’s spread legs.

He inched up the bed and lined himself up with Harry’s hole.

When he first pushed in, he heard Harry gasp and then moan in pleasure. He glanced up at his face and saw how beautiful and relaxed he looked.

He continued pressing in, and once he was all the way in, he dropped to his forearms, bracketing Harry’s face with one on each side.

“Hi,” Louis whispered.

“Hi.” Harry brought his hands up to Louis’ face and pulled him down for a gentle kiss. They lay like that for a while, just showing their obvious affection while Louis waited for Harry to be a bit more stretched.

Harry slid his tongue into Louis’ mouth at the same time Louis started moving his hips. They groaned at the same time at the sensation and Harry tightened his legs around Louis’ waist.

Louis fucked his hips in and out, a bit more quickly than he would have if this was their first time. But as it was, it didn’t take long until he was driving his hips forward, jolting Harry’s body around with each thrust.

“God, Louis,” Harry moaned. “You fuck me so good.”

“Yeah? How good?”

“So fucking good. Best ever.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t, babe; I got you.” Louis slowly sat back, resting on his shins. He put one hand on the back of each of Harry’s thighs, pushing them back and leaning forward. He picked his pace back up, moving as fast as he could while keeping Harry’s legs spread apart.

“Lou… Oh, my God, baby,” Harry whimpered.

“You close, babe?”

“So close. Shit.” Harry wrapped a hand around his cock and started jerking himself off.

The sight of it - Harry’s pink lips, the flush across his chest, his hand around his dick - pushed Louis closer to the edge.

“Me, too, babe.”

Harry cried out, and just a moment later, came all across his chest. Watching Harry’s orgasm face is what made Louis come with a grunt, filling the condom.

He slowed his thrusts until he stopped completely. Then he slowly pulled out and collapsed onto the bed next to Harry.

“We’re pretty good at that,” Harry finally said.

Louis nodded. “Yeah, it’s adequate.”

Harry chuckled and nudged Louis with his shoulder.

Louis stood up and peeled the condom off, tying it up and throwing it in the trash. Then he went to the bathroom to get another washcloth.

As he wiped Harry’s stomach, he could barely suppress his smile.

“Stop staring at me like that.”

Harry grinned. “Like what?”

“Like you’re about to get on your knees in front of me.”

“Well…”

“No.” Louis laughed. He tossed the towel into the hamper and got back onto the bed. “We should probably do something today. If you want to, I mean.”

“What if I don’t want to do anything today?”

“Really? You just want to stay in bed all day?”

Harry just raised an eyebrow.

Louis laughed. “I guess you do. But I definitely have to wash these sheets today.”

“And I actually am scheduled to go to work. It’s not ’til 1, though.”

“And it’s…” Louis picked his head up to look at the clock next to his bed. “Almost 10 now.”

“Yeah. Maybe I should shower, then.”

“Maybe, since you have to be out in public. How about this? You shower and I’ll make breakfast for us?”

“Hmmm…” Harry tapped his chin like he was thinking about it. “Or… we could shower together and then cook breakfast together?”

Louis looked down at his still-naked body. “Well, I am dressed for a shower right now.”

Harry snorted. “Come on.”

Harry got up and stretched his arms above his head. He headed for the bathroom and glanced over his shoulder, not sure if he should be surprised or not that Louis was still on the bed.

“You coming?” Harry asked, stopping where he stood.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Louis stood up. “Just liked watching you walk away.”

“Perv.”

Louis came up behind Harry and kissed his bare shoulder. “Not a perv. I just appreciate what I have.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide the blush across his cheeks. “And now you’re a sappy perv. Come on.”

Harry pulled him into the bathroom, and Louis got the shower set up.

They were in there long enough for one orgasm each. Harry may have left later than he would’ve liked.

But he wasn’t about to complain.


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch out for protective Mama Bear Anne in this chapter.

Thanks to Harry’s morning activities, he didn’t have time to run home before work, so by the time he got there after his shift ended, his mom pounced on him almost as soon as he walked in the door.

“Good to see you,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the kitchen. She practically forced him into one of the chairs that stood by the island. “I almost forgot what you looked like.”

Harry smiled. “Mom, you saw me yesterday.”

She sat in the chair next to him. “Still. I’ve been dying to hear how this date went. I’m guessing it went well since you didn’t come home last night.”

“I did text you and tell you I’d be out.”

“Yes, you did, and I appreciate that. Doesn’t mean I’m thrilled with it.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s OK.” She paused. “Were you safe?”

Harry nodded. “Of course.”

Harry and his mom had had the sex talk years ago, and Anne’s approach to sex was the same as it had been for Gemma: ‘I can’t stop you from having it, so I’m going to make damn sure you know all of the options and ways to stay safe.’

Of course the consequences for unsafe sex were a little different for him than for Gemma, but the precautions were about the same.

At the time, Harry had been beet red at the conversation, but now he was grateful for her method.

“Good,” Anne said. “Now, can you tell me more about him?”

Harry nodded eagerly. The night before, he hadn’t told Anne much about Louis, just because he was already nervous enough about the date; he didn’t want to jinx it.

“Mom, he’s just so… I don’t know, just, amazing. Like, he’s so clever and creative and just really considerate. He’s got a big heart and he just keeps a smile on my face all the time. And he- I can’t even explain it. I just  _really_ like him, Mom.”

Anne was beaming by the time Harry finished. “Aw, baby, I’m so happy for you. He sounds like such a nice young man.”

Harry wanted to laugh at the ‘young’ in Anne’s sentence, although he hadn’t actually told her how old Louis was, and he was crossing his fingers that she wouldn’t ask.

“So how did you meet?” she asked. “Is he in one of your classes at school?”

_Fuck._

“Um, no.”

“Oh. Work?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, do you work with him? Just be careful with that; some employers don’t like coworkers dating.”

“Right, I know. Um, no I don’t work with him. He’s just a regular.”

Anne nodded. “That’s cute, too. Was it like out of a romance novel? You saw each other across the room and just knew it was love at first sight?”

Harry shook his head. “No, mom. That’s not quite how it works.”

“Just asking.” She leaned an elbow on the island and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. “So is he in school?”

“Um, no…”

“He’s not? So he has a job, then?” Anne wondered.

“Yeah…”

“You don’t sound too sure.”

“No, he definitely does,” Harry said.

“What does he do?”

“Um, he…” Harry stalled, trying to think of a younger version of advertising executive. Of course he was coming up blank.

“Harry, he does have a job, right?”

“He does.”

“So what is it?”

“He, uh, works in advertising?”

Anne frowned. “Like an intern?”

“No…”

“What does he do?”

“He’s a junior executive at Thompson and Callahan.”

“A junior exec-” Anne’s eyes narrowed. “Harry, how old is he?”

“I mean, he’s a few years older than me. I told you that before, though.”

“How many years?”

“He’s, um-”

“Harry!”

“He’s twenty-eight?”

Anne stilled.

“Mom?”

Anne shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you say this new boy you’re dating isn’t actually a boy, but a fully grown man?”

“I’m a fully grown man, too,” Harry muttered.

Anne gave him a  _mom_ look, and Harry shut up immediately.

“Why is a man who’s almost thirty going after you? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing!”

“I don’t believe that. Not for a second. If there wasn’t anything wrong with him, you wouldn’t have been so scared to tell me how old he was.”

“Because I didn’t want this to happen!” Harry explained. “I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“Well consider me freaked out.”

“Mom, just please-”

“You’re not seeing him again,” Anne decided. She stood up and started walking toward the door out of the kitchen.

“Mom, what?” Harry asked, standing up and going after her. He shook his head and said, “You’re seriously overreacting.”

“How am I overreacting?”

“Because you’re judging him based completely on his age,” Harry said, following Anne into the living room.

“Of course I am!” Anne stopped and whirled around to face him, stopping him dead in his tracks. Robin sat in the armchair, reading a book. He looked up at the sudden commotion. “How else should I create an opinion on him? Yes, you told me how nice he was, but forgive me if I’m still stuck on him being seven years older than you.”

“He’s how old?” Robin asked, stunned.

Anne turned to Robin and said, “Oh, you haven’t heard that Harry’s dating a cradle robber?”

“Mom!” Harry said. “He’s not a cradle robber! God, you make it sound like I’m still a minor! I’m 21. He’s in his twenties, too. And we’ve talked about the age gap. Probably more than you think.”

“‘In his twenties.’ Yes, I realize that, Harry, but I also realize that he’s almost out of them, as well. When you said you were seeing someone a bit older, I thought he’d be 24. But 28?”

Harry stayed silent.

Anne sighed. “I don’t like this, Harry. I don’t like that you kept his age from me, either.”

“I know you don’t, but mom…”

Just then, Harry heard a key in the door. The three of them looked and saw Gemma walking into the house.

This was his only chance, and Harry was definitely taking it.

“Gemma likes him!” Harry nearly shouted, pointing at his sister.

“No, I don’t!” Gemma immediately yelled back, without asking for any context of the conversation. “Whatever Harry is saying is a lie, Mom, and I didn’t do it!”

She looked at the three of them and then asked, “What’s going on?”

“Have you met your brother’s new boyfriend?” Anne asked.

“Boyfriend?”

“Louis?”

Gemma bit her lower lip.

“Gemma?”

“Gems, please answer her,” Harry begged.

Gemma sighed. “Um, yeah, Mom, I have.”

“You’ve met him?” Anne snapped.

“Yes?”

“And she had lunch with him!” Harry added.

“Harry, shut up!” Gemma hissed. “You just had to drag me into this, didn’t you?”

“Yup.”

Anne shook her head. “I can’t believe this. Why has Gemma met him and become friends with him before I really even knew about his existence, Harry?”

“Because I didn’t want you to-”

“Freak out. Yeah, I heard you the first time.”

Gemma sighed. “If it helps, Louis is honestly pretty cool, Mom.”

 _"Cool?"_ Anne repeated, crossing her arms. “Cool? Oh, that’s wonderful. So if he’s so  _cool_ , why can’t he find someone else to mess around with? Someone his own age?”

“That’s what I said!” Gemma told her. “But Mom, I promise I was weirded out by it, too. Wasn’t I, Harry?”

Harry reluctantly nodded at that one.

“And yes, I had lunch with him. But I promise, he is a good guy, Mom. I mean, I haven’t seen them together yet, but the way he talked about Harry… He really does care. And he said at first, he wanted to stay away from Harry because of the age gap, but, you know… you can’t help who you fall for and all that.”

Anne still looked skeptical as she listened to Gemma speak.

Harry was afraid to move a muscle, scared of setting his mom off again.

“Invite him to dinner,” Anne eventually decided.

“Dinner?” Harry asked.

“Yes. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? But, what if he has plans?”

Harry didn’t actually know Louis’ schedule off the top of his head, but he was surprised at how fast his mom wanted this to happen.

“If he cares for you as much as he seems to, he’ll find a way around it.” She turned and walked back to the kitchen. “Tomorrow. No excuses.”

Once Anne was gone, Harry looked helplessly at Robin, who just smiled at him and said, “We’re just looking out for you, Harry.”

Then he returned to his book.

Harry sighed and looked at Gemma. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Harry turned, heading for the stairs, when Gemma cleared her throat.

He looked over at his sister, who had a smirk on her face.

“So… boyfriend, huh?”

Harry smiled. “Yeah. It’s only been a week, but… yeah.”

“Good. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. You better go call him about tomorrow.”

“I will. I’m sure it will be fine,” Harry said.

“Knowing him, I don’t doubt that.”

Harry nodded once more before heading up to his room. He grabbed his phone and texted Louis, before flopping down on his bed.

He needed a nap.

\---

The next night, Harry was pacing in his room. He felt like he was going to throw up, his heart was racing so fast he thought it might beat right out of his chest and he was pretty positive he was sweating through his shirt already.

Louis was going to be here any minute, and Harry really didn’t know how his mom was going to treat him.

She would be polite as always, that much could be expected, and she would never be as blunt as Gemma was, but… Harry’s mom had a way of making even the worst insult sound like a compliment just by the way she changed her voice.

It was a little scary, honestly.

His phone vibrated, alerting him of a new text. Harry had been holding it, but at the sudden feeling, he dropped it to the floor thanks to his nerves.

“Shit,” Harry whispered. He picked up the phone and saw that the message was from Louis. He was here.

Harry quickly left his room, practically falling toward the steps in his haste to get to the front door before his mom did.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the first one to the door, but at least it was Robin who had beat him there.

“Come on in, son,” Robin was saying.

Harry stood near the top of the steps for a minute, still trying to get his nerves under control.

“Thank you.” Louis walked into the house, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers in his hands.

He looked to the left into the living room and saw Gemma sitting on the couch.

“Hey, Gem,” he said.

“Hey, Lou.” Gemma stood up and made her way over. “Good to see you.”

“You, too. Glad to be here.” Then he looked to the right, where Harry was finally starting to come down the steps.

“Hi,” Harry said quietly.

Louis smiled. “Hey, babe.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “Harry, don’t make it weird. Come greet your boyfriend.”

Harry frowned at Robin, but made his way down the last few steps.

He pulled Louis into a tight hug, relaxing when he felt Louis’ hands around his waist.

“Relax,” Louis whispered into his ear.

_Easier said than done._

Harry pulled back, but still stayed close enough to softly peck Louis on the lips.

“Now that that’s done,” Robin muttered. “Anne! Louis is here.”

At the mention of his mom’s name, Harry immediately tensed back up.

Noticing his reaction, Louis started rubbing small circles into Harry’s skin, trying to calm him back down.

Anne came into the hallway from the dining room, and the tension in the room increased to a level so high that Harry couldn’t even describe it.

“Mom, this is Louis,” Harry shakily introduced. “Louis, this is my mom, Anne.”

Louis pulled his arm from around Harry’s waist, and went up to Anne, his hand extended for a shake.

“Hi, Anne, it’s wonderful to meet you,” he said.

Anne gave Louis an extremely tight-lipped smile. She took his hand in hers, though, so that was a start.

“Hi, Louis. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“These are for you,” Louis told her, giving her the flowers. “To thank you for having me over.”

Anne dropped his hand to accept them. “Thank you. Gemma, put these in water for me?”

Gemma quickly nodded and took the flowers into the kitchen.

“Well, dinner is just about ready, so let’s head into the dining room.”

Anne turned and headed back the way she came, with Robin following right behind her.

Louis started to walk, too, but Harry stopped him.

“How are you so calm right now?” Harry asked.

“Calm?” Louis looked toward the dining room to make sure they were still alone. “I took three shots in the car before I came in. Trust me, I’m anything but calm right now.”

Harry sighed. “Oh. Good, I thought it was just me.”

“Definitely not just you.”

“OK.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get through this together, all right?”

Harry nodded. “Right. Right, of course we will. And I mean, obviously, she can’t tell me who I can and can’t date. I mean, I’m 21, but like… She just-”

“Doesn’t like me,” Louis finished.

“Well, no, not yet. But she will. I know she will. And if she doesn’t, then too bad.”

Louis snorted. “That’s not true, and we both know it.”

“It is true.”

“No, it’s not. Her opinion matters to you, babe. I know that; it’s OK. I’ll just make sure I win her over, all right?”

Harry smiled. “OK. Thank you for coming over.”

“You’re welcome. You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

Harry blushed. Then he nodded slowly.

“Good.” Louis leaned in, kissing Harry on the lips. This kiss was deeper than their first one, and Harry felt a bit calmer when they pulled apart.

“Come on.”

Harry grabbed Louis’ hand and led him to the dining room.

“Thought you’d gotten lost,” Gemma teased when they came in.

Louis just stuck his tongue out at her as he pulled out Harry’s chair.

“Real mature.”

Louis just grinned, sitting down in his own seat.

“I got you both wine,” Gemma told them, nodding to the glasses in front of them. “Thought you might need it.”

“Thank you,” Harry said gratefully, taking a big sip.

Anne and Robin came in then, each carrying a large bowl. Anne held the salad, while Robin had the main course, which looked to be some kind of pasta with chicken.

“OK, dig in,” Anne said once both bowls were on the table.

Everyone started taking servings of the food, the only sound in the room coming from the servingware hitting the bowls and silverware clinking against plates.

The entire time, Louis could feel Anne’s eyes on him. He kept his eyes down for the time being, knowing the interrogation was on its way.

“So Louis, Harry said you worked in advertising?” Anne asked after a few minutes of silence.

Louis nodded. “Yes, I’m a junior executive at Thompson and Callahan. I’ve worked there for a few years, but just started my position in the middle of December.”

“Interesting. So I guess it’s fair to say you specialize in making things seem more appealing to certain demographics than they really are or than they actually need to be.”

Harry dropped his fork. Like, literally felt it fall out of his hand and clatter against his plate. He looked at his mom in disbelief, but she was focused on Louis.

Louis, who Harry was pretty sure had stopped breathing.

Harry looked across the table at Gemma, who looked a bit stunned, as well. By the time he finally looked over at Louis, he saw him wiping his mouth with his napkin.

“I suppose you could say that,” Louis replied. “You could also look at it like I’m playing up the best strengths of what I’m trying to sell. And, I know that there’s a lot of competition out there, and of course I want the customer to pick me, or, should I say, my product. But I’m always going to put my best foot forward, and if the customer goes with something else, then I guess that’s that. But if they pick what I’m selling, then I would just be the happiest person there ever was.”

Correction.  _Now_ Harry was stunned. He chanced a look at his mom, who simply had her eyes narrowed, but it didn’t look like she was going to say anything else.

“So, Louis,” Robin said, trying to change the subject, “Harry told us you have a big family?”

“Uh, yes, sir,” Louis answered. “I have six younger siblings. Five sisters and a brother.”

“Wow. That must be a lot.”

“Nah, it’s OK. The oldest sisters I have are 22 and 20, so they help out a lot. Not that my mom really needs it. She’s a warrior all on her own.”

Robin hummed. “Interesting. Reminds me of a certain other woman around here.” He gave Anne a very pointed look, chuckling when she stared back at him for a minute and then dropped her gaze.

“Speaking of my mom, Mrs. Twist, I think you and she would get along really well,” Louis said.

Anne looked confused. “Why?”

“Well, honestly,” he leaned forward as if he was confessing a secret, “I don’t think my mom likes me all the time, either.”

Gemma snorted. Robin let out a chuckle, as well. Harry wasn’t sure how to react, so he just looked at his mom, who appeared to be holding back a smile.

“It’s OK to laugh, darling,” Robin told her. “I’m pretty sure he’s still scared of you.”

Louis nodded quickly. “I am. Promise.”

Anne watched him, like she was trying to figure out if Louis was just joking. But whatever she was looking for, she didn't find it, because she cleared her throat and simply said, “Good.”

Harry sighed a breath of relief. Hopefully this was a good sign, and meant that Anne might actually accept Louis by the end of the night. Just an hour ago, he hadn’t felt so ambitious.

“Louis, do you follow any sports?” Robin asked.

“The Philly teams, mostly. Some more closely than others, though.”

“How about baseball?”

Louis shrugged. “Yeah, the Phillies are all right. They’ve had better years, of course, but they’re hanging in there.”

“Maybe you can do some work with this one, then.” Robin gestured to Harry with his fork. “Baseball’s my sport, but  _someone_ doesn’t care for it much. I usually have to drag Anne to games during the season, much to her dismay.”

“It’s just not that interesting, Robin,” Anne sighed.

“It’s really not,” Gemma agreed. “They just run around in a circle.”

“See what I’m dealing with?” Robin asked Louis.

Louis grinned. “I mean, it is interesting, though, if the bases are loaded, and a team is about to score. A game can go sour very quickly.”

“Good man,” Robin said.

Anne rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Baseball is almost as boring as soccer. At least in baseball there are bats and things that can go into the crowd.”

“Oh, you don’t like soccer?” Louis asked, fixing her with a stare.

Anne just raised an eyebrow. “Oh, now you’re giving me that look?”

“Maybe I am. Soccer might just happen to be my favorite sport.”

“Why?” Gemma wanted to know. “Like, they’re literally just running back and forth across the field. Good for them for being able to run that long, I guess.”

“Well you just answered part of your question,” Louis replied, starting to get fired up. “The endurance! Think of that, of how long you have to run after a ball to score a goal and the satisfaction when you finally do. Then the trick shots you can make. Oh, man, people train for ages just to make one in their own backyards. Then the feeling of getting one during a game is… unbeatable. I can’t even put words to it. And don’t even get me started on the teamwork that has to go into a single game, the amount of trust you need to have in your team.”

Gemma hummed. “Interesting. Harry, have you told Louis that you don’t like soccer?”

Louis whirled on him. “What?”

“Thanks, Gemma,” Harry said. “Best Sister Award goes to…”

“What do you mean, you don’t like soccer? You listen to me talk about it all the time!”

“Yes, babe, I  _listen_. I don’t respond, though.”

“Because you don’t like it?” Louis asked.

“No, I kind of hate it.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s boring as hell. Ninety minutes of one game and the score could still be tied 0-0. No thanks.”

“It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

Harry rolled his eyes as his family laughed at Louis’ reaction. “You’re being a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“No, Kermit, I don’t.”

Harry’s jaw dropped. “Take that back!”

“No.”

“Kermit?” Anne asked curiously.

“Don’t!” Harry warned Louis.

Louis looked quickly between Harry and Anne, weighing his options.

“Will you like me more if I tell you?” he asked Anne seriously.

She thought it over.

“Mom!”

“Quiet, Harry,” she said. “I’ll consider it. What’s it about?”

“Someone told Harry he looks like a frog when he doesn’t smile.”

Louis watched as Harry’s entire family stared at him.

Gemma burst into laughter a moment later. “Oh, my God, you kind of do.”

Anne pressed her lips together, stifling her own laugh, and Robin sat back in his chair before muttering, “Well I’ll be damned.”

Harry groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

“You might move up a point if you tell us, Louis,” Anne decided.

That was enough.

Louis quickly pressed a kiss to the side of Harry’s head. “Sorry, babe.”

Harry just flipped him off.

Louis shrugged, and then went right into the story.

\---

Now that the tension was broken, the rest of dinner went sort of smoothly. Anne was still the tiniest bit stiff to him, but she at least let herself smile at Louis’ jokes. He’d already won Gemma over, and it looked like he’d won Robin over, as well, seeing as he now had a standing invitation to attend a Phillies game with him.

After dessert, Harry and Gemma started to clear the dishes. Louis stood to help, as well, but Anne stopped him.

“Louis, can I speak with you for a minute?” she asked, in a tone that left no room for arguments.

Louis quickly looked at Harry, who looked nervous all over again.

“Uh, sure.”

“Um, I’ll take these into the kitchen and then-” Harry started.

“I want to talk to Louis alone.”

“Oh.”

“If you don’t mind, of course,” Anne finished.

“Uh, no. No, um…” Harry glanced back at Louis, who was sitting back down. “OK.”

He, Gemma and Robin vacated the room, taking the dishes with them.

Louis sat down and stared at his hands, not knowing what Anne was about to say, if she had changed her mind about him and hated him again.

“So…” he started.

“So,” she repeated. “You’re Louis.”

“I am.”

“Well, Louis, I have a question for you.”  

Louis nodded. “Sure.”

“Gemma said that you wanted to stay away from Harry at first because of the age difference. What changed?”

“I did, I guess,” Louis finally answered. He looked up at her as he continued. “Or, maybe just my view of things. I honestly thought about it for a very long time, and tried to tell myself I’d be happy just being friends with Harry. But, the more we talked and spent time together, the more obvious it became that just friendship wasn’t in the cards for us. It’s so cliché, but Harry is the only man I’ve ever felt so  _strongly_ about. On days when I didn’t see him, I missed him. Days when I did see him, I was just so much happier, even if it was only for a few minutes at the coffee shop before he moved on to the next customer in line.”

Louis took a deep breath. “And, I know you don’t like me. And maybe, if the situation were a bit different, you would. But, I know your opinion matters a lot to Harry, so… I guess I’m just hoping you’ll give me a chance? A chance to prove myself?”

Anne stared at him for a minute before Louis eventually dropped his gaze.

“You already have,” she finally said.

Louis' eyebrows shot up. “I have?”

Anne nodded her head. Then she leaned forward in her seat, resting her elbows on the table in front of her. She said, “I trust my son. My reaction to you may have been a little… over the top - don’t tell Harry I said that - but I do trust him. It would’ve been hard not to. To say he’s smart would be an understatement, and with his intelligence comes very measured out decisions. He doesn’t just dive into things on a whim. Everything he does is thought out and planned to the last detail. The problem with that is that his mind moves so fast that he reaches his conclusions quickly and jumps into action once he has his plan, and I sometimes can’t keep up. So for me, it doesn’t feel like he’s thought everything out as much, and with that, I jump into overprotective mode, even though deep down, I know he knows what he’s doing, you know what I mean?”

Louis nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Now, with you, he was just so enamored by you after your first date. You should’ve seen it. It was disgusting.”

Louis snorted.

“I’m just kidding,” Anne told him. “Believe me, I love seeing him happy. But then he started getting shifty with his details, and when he finally revealed how old you were, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, God, this is it. This is when he actually might not be fully thinking with his head, and more with his heart, maybe too much. Clearly there must be something wrong with this guy, so I actually get to be overprotective mom right now.’ And, like I said, I kind of ran with it. Not like I needed to, though. He’s never given me a reason to doubt him before, so why would he start now?”

“Still,” Louis started, “you’re his mom. You’re looking out for him. If my mom thought I was hiding something from her about a guy I was dating, she’d be nervous, too.”

Anne nodded. She was looking down at her hands, momentarily lost in her thoughts. “Or maybe I just don’t want my boy to get older. You know, he’s only 21, but he’s always seemed so much older. Maybe I’m not ready for him to actually  _be_ older. You know, Harry’s still my baby, no matter how old he gets or what he accomplishes.”

“My mom would say the same about me,” Louis told her, “even though I’m the oldest.”

Anne whistled lowly. “I still can’t believe that: seven children.” She paused. “Hate to say it, but Gemma is probably still more of a handful than your siblings are.”

“I heard that!” they both heard Gemma yell from somewhere else in the house.

They shared a quiet laugh.

Then Louis said, “Harry actually said the same thing when he found out I had six siblings.”

Anne smiled. “I’m sure he did. They adore each other, though. Always have, even when they were mad at each other. Did you hear the story of when Harry tried to convince me that Gemma was a drug dealer?”

“Yeah, Gemma told me that one, actually.”

“Yeah, they’re very close. So, I guess if Gemma trusts you with her little brother, then, well…” Anne took a deep breath. “I’m watching you, Tomlinson. And I think we can leave it there for now.”

Louis nodded. “I can live with that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t mess it up.”

Louis smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Anne glanced toward the door. “Harry, I know you’re listening, so you might as well come in.”

Louis frowned. He hadn’t heard anything.

But sure enough, a moment later, they heard whispering outside of the door, and suddenly the door was opened and Harry was being shoved through it.

“Gemma pushed me!” Harry told Anne once he was in the room.

“No, I didn’t.” Gemma peeked her head in the room. “He tripped; you know he’s clumsy.”

“I’m not so clumsy that I would fall through a  _closed door,_ Gemma. You pushed me!” Harry called after her as she walked away and up the stairs.

“Does this happen a lot?” Louis asked Anne. He smiled as she sadly nodded her head.

“How did you hear me, anyway? I was so quiet!” Harry pouted as he sat down next to his mom.

Anne just laughed. “I know you were, sweetie. I know.”

“Don’t patronize me. How did you know I was out there?”

“Because I always know. I’m your mother.”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I mean, the resemblance is undeniable, Harry,” Louis said.

Harry glared at him. “Why are you never on my side?”

“I’m always on your side, babe.”

Anne chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah.” He looked pretty fond, though, so Louis knew he wasn’t actually mad. “So, mom, have anything you want to say?”

Anne rolled her eyes and looked away from Harry. “Nope.”

“Mom.”

“No.”

“Mom,” Harry continued to pester. He reached over so he could poke her in the cheek. As his finger got closer, the smirk on her face changed to a smile to a full-on grin.

“OK, fine!” she said, laughing. “I was…  _wrong._ ”

“About?”

“About Louis. He’s not a cradle robber who’s stalking you.”

“And?”

Anne sighed. “And I can’t wait to get to know Louis better because he really is wonderful.” She turned to Louis. “And I’m not just saying that.”

Harry quickly kissed his mom on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Louis repeated.

“You’re welcome. And Harry, I’m sorry for overreacting yesterday. You’re still my baby, you know.”

“Thank you. And I know.”

“Now, speaking of baby…” Anne started.

Harry’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”

“Louis, would you like to see pictures of Harry when he was an actual baby? If you ask nicely, I might be able to dig up the one of him wearing a bra.”

“Oh, can I please see baby pictures of Harry?” Louis asked, despite Harry quickly shaking his head. “I would love to.”

“Sounds wonderful! Let’s go into the living room!”

Anne stood up and left the room. Louis stood and went over to Harry’s side of the table.

“Never on my side,” Harry grumbled.

Louis ducked his head and gave him a soft kiss. “Always am,” he whispered. “Now, come on. I want to go see these pictures.”

Louis walked in the direction of the living room, and Harry smiled.

As far as ‘meeting the parents,’ Harry thought this night was actually pretty damn great.

\---

“Can I tell you something?” Louis quietly asked Harry a few days later. The two of them were in Louis’ bed, coming down from their orgasms, their sweaty skin staying that way as they held each other close.

“Sure.”

“OK, so, I told you my mom is remarried, right? To my stepdad, Dan?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, there’s a bit of a gap in their ages.”

Harry picked his head up to stare at Louis. “How much of an age gap?”

“Ten years?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Don’t be mad.”

“Why would I be mad about that?”

“Like, maybe you think that’s a reason I thought we couldn’t be together at first?” Louis said.

“Well, it definitely crossed my mind… But we all have our reasons for thinking a certain way. Although, now that you mention it,  _did_ that have some kind of influence over you?”

“Technically, no,” Louis admitted. “I mean, it never bothered me for them. Like, I saw how good they were together, and Dan was always great with me and my sisters. And he’s an awesome dad to Ernest and Doris.”

“But…”

“But, that doesn’t mean everyone was OK with it. I always heard people talking. More about my mom, I think. It’s easy to say I hate the word ‘cougar’ now. And, I guess that had more of an effect on me than I thought. The idea of putting myself in that same position just had me on edge more than I realized.”

Harry nodded. “It’s OK. I understand.”

“But it wasn’t fair to you to think that. Or fair to us. I mean, the situation was different. Different time period, different people. I just wish I hadn’t held us back from it.”

“No, it wasn’t fair to us. But you didn’t shut me out completely. You had your guard up, but Louis, let’s be real here. You didn’t put your walls up  _that_ high. We were still dating before we were dating.”

Louis smiled. “Yeah, we kind of were.”

“Yeah, we were. You wouldn’t believe how many times Niall or Johnny referred to you as my boyfriend, and it took me just a little too long to correct them, just because the word just sounded so accurate.”

“Yeah, my sisters gave me a lot of grief, too, after that dinner. Oh, and Liam and Zayn were annoying that night we saw the fireworks.”

“Gemma helped me get ready that night,” Harry said. “By the time I left, I didn’t know if I wanted to smack her for teasing me about you or thank her for listening to me gush about you.”

“We have some good people in our corners, don’t we?” Louis asked after a moment of silence between them.

“We do. And they’re the people whose opinions actually matter. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Good,” Harry said. “But anyway, getting back to your original point, and I say this with love, but people suck.”

Louis snorted before bursting into laughing. “What?”

“People suck. They’re nosy and give opinions that nobody asked for and act like you should be grateful to hear what they have to say. Who cares what people think? Just do what makes you happy.”

“Well, I just did,” Louis said.

Harry stared for a minute before rolling his eyes. “Oh, my God, you’re disgusting!”

He swatted Louis’ bare chest as he laughed again.

“We were both pretty disgusting until I wiped us off with a washcloth.”

“Shut up! God, you’re the worst.”

“And yet, here we are.”

“Yeah…” Harry sighed. “Here we are.”

He moved up to kiss Louis roughly, sighing when he pulled back.

“Hey, so,” Louis said, tightening his arms around Harry. “Would now be a good time to tell you my mom wants to meet you?”

Harry tensed. “What? No!”

“Yeah.”

“Why would you tell me this, when we’re naked in your bed and in desperate need of a shower?”

“I wouldn’t say a  _desperate_ need…” Louis said.

“Lou.”

“Just seemed like a good time?”

“We need to work on your sense of timing.”

“Well, we have a long time to do that, right?” Louis winked.

Harry sighed. “Yeah, we really do.”

\---

If dinner with Harry’s family was tense, dinner with Louis’ family was anything but. Both Louis and Harry were more relaxed, for starters. Louis was leaned back in his chair with an arm slung around the back of Harry’s seat. Harry had moved his chair closer to Louis’ so he could lean into his side and had a hand rested on Louis’ upper thigh.

They’d already gotten through all of the basic ‘get to know you’ topics, so currently, Harry was talking to Phoebe and Daisy about the SATs. Or, well, ‘talking’ with them, as the two of them were having the conversation mostly without him.

“Louis said you got a high score on the SATs. Is that right?” Phoebe asked.

Harry nodded. “I did.”

“So you like, got a high score on the test all by yourself, right?” Daisy asked. “And like, you didn’t cheat?”

“No, I didn’t cheat,” Harry said.

“Interesting… I mean, is it possible to cheat, though? Just because I’m taking them again next month and I need a really good score.”

“You could just try like, studying for them,” Phoebe told her.

Daisy scoffed. “Who studies for the SATs? I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing.”

“I think it is.”

“It can’t be.”

“Sure it is. Why do you think Holly’s parents made her take SAT prep this semester?”

“Because they care about her scores,” Daisy said. “Unlike, some other parents around here…”

Jay laughed. “If I made you take SAT prep, would you actually try to learn the material and do all the studying you’re required to?”

Daisy hesitated. “Probably not.”

“Exactly.”

“I hate to tell you, though,” Harry said, “it’s really not possible to cheat on the SATs. They change the tests every year, and probably every session, too.”

“Yeah, but there has to be some kind of pattern,” Phoebe said. “You’re smart. Figure it out for us.”

“Harry’s not helping you cheat on the SATs!” Louis told them.

“If he wants to get on our good side, he will!”

“He was on your good side the second he walked in,” Lottie said, “when he complimented your nail polish and your phone cases.”

“I do actually like pink; I wasn’t making that up,” Harry said.

“Can we stop talking about cheating on the SATs as if it’s an actual option?” Jay asked.

“Thank you, Mom,” Louis said.

“Although, with the amount of money I’m putting out for these tests, it might be nice to have a bit of insurance…”

“Mom!”

“Oh, I’m just joking! Relax!”

“Harry, can I ask how you did on the SATs?” Dan wondered. “Seeing as the girls want your help cheating?”

“2370,” Harry answered easily.

The whole table stilled.

“Oh, forget it!” Phoebe cried. “We’ll just have Harry take the test for us.”

Fizzy rolled her eyes. “That’s still cheating, you ding-dong.”

“Fiz, don’t say ding-dong,” Jay scolded.

Doris giggled. “Haha. Ding-dong.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty funny,” Ernest agreed.

“Both of you stop that. Fizzy, look what you started.”

“I didn’t start anything!” Fizzy said. “Phoebe over there started it when she said she was going to commit test-taking identity fraud with a guy who’s six feet tall and has hair curlier than all of ours combined.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lottie scoffed, running her fingers through her long, blonde wavy hair.

“That’s artificial and you know it.”

“Shut up!”

Fizzy smiled. “Don’t worry, Blondie, I meant the curls.”

“Oh. OK.”

“The platinum blonde isn’t artificial?” Harry whispered to Louis.

Louis just raised an eyebrow at Harry and then just nodded his head.

“Shut up!” Lottie shot at Louis.

“Make me! What are you gonna do, douse me with your hair bleach?”

Lottie grunted before taking a roll and throwing it at Louis across the table.

“Hey! Mom, you saw that! Lottie started that.”

“Good Lord in heaven, give me strength,” Jay muttered to herself.

“Five second rule for any food that hits the floor,” Dan called out over the yelling between Lottie and Louis that had begun.

“Dan!”

“OK, sorry. Just kidding. Stop throwing rolls at each other.”

“Would I look good with a nose ring?” Daisy suddenly asked, looking at her phone.

“No!”

“Lottie has her nose pierced!”

“Yeah, with a  _stud_ ,” Lottie said. “Not a ring, like a pirate.”

“I wouldn’t look like a pirate!”

“Plenty of people have actual rings and look really good with them,” Fizzy jumped in. “You’d probably look great.”

“Thanks, Fizz,” Daisy said, sticking her tongue out at Lottie.

“Not at seventeen, you wouldn’t,” Jay told her.

“How big of a ring?” Harry asked.

“You know, just a little one,” Daisy answered.

“I think it would look good.” Then, feeling Jay’s eyes on him, he quickly added, “You know, once you’re eighteen.”

“Thank you,” Jay said.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. “You’re welcome.”

“Ernest, stop giving your food to the dog!” Dan suddenly said.

“What?” Ernest asked innocently. “Barney likes carrots!”

“And they’re good for his teeth, Dad!” Doris added.

“He’s a dog,” Phoebe said. “That means he likes everything.”

“Yeah, he likes licking his own ass, too,” Fizzy muttered.

“Mom!” Ernest yelled. “Fizzy said -”

Jay sighed. “I know what she said. Fizzy, watch your language.”

“Didn’t think he would hear me…”

“With that big mouth of yours, how could he not?” Lottie asked.

“Oh, do you want more rolls thrown at you?”

“I’d like to see you try.”

Without hesitating, Fizzy grabbed a part of her roll and threw it down the table. She would’ve hit her, too, if Lottie hadn’t ducked.

“Again with the rolls?” Dan asked exasperatedly.

“Please, make it stop,” Jay pleaded, rubbing at her temple.

“Aren’t you just so glad you came to dinner tonight?” Louis whispered to Harry.

And while it definitely wasn’t the least chaotic dinner Harry had ever been to - what with Lottie and Fizzy sticking their tongues out at each other and calling each other names, Daisy and Phoebe looking up past SAT questions and answers, Doris and Ernest quietly giving their vegetables to the dogs, and Jay and Dan just giving up and letting the craziness happen - Harry could honestly say he was quite content where he was.

\---

After dinner, the family went into the living room to watch a movie.

It was some romantic comedy, but Harry wouldn’t have been able to name it. He was snuggled up with Louis, his head on Louis’ chest and Louis’ fingers in his hair, far too comfortable to pay attention.

When Jay got up, though, saying she was going to make herself some tea, Harry found his attention grabbed.

“I’ll be right back,” Harry whispered to Louis. He pecked him on the cheek before getting up to follow Jay.

When he walked into the kitchen, he found her standing at the counter with her back to him, looking through different boxes of tea.

Harry cleared his throat. “Hi.”

Jay looked over her shoulder. “Hi, sweetie. Did you want some tea, too? I’m sorry, I should’ve asked.”

“Oh, no, it’s OK. I didn’t want any. I just, um… I just wanted to say thank you, again, for having me over.”

“Of course. You’re very important to Louis, so I knew I had to meet you.”

Harry smiled, hesitating saying what was still on his mind.

“What else?” Jay asked. She put the tea boxes down and turned so she was fully facing Harry.

“It’s silly.”

“If it’s bothering you, it’s not silly.”

“Well… Um, thank you, for, I guess not being bothered by, well, me and Louis.”

Jay frowned. “Why would- Oh! The age thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe you are being a little silly.”

Harry smiled.

“Didn’t Louis tell you about the age gap between my husband and me?”

Harry nodded. “Not at first, but, yeah. He did. But, I don’t know, I thought maybe it might be different when it’s not you, you know?”

“Yeah, but I like seeing Louis happy,” Jay told him. “And, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re definitely who makes him happy.”

Harry blushed. “Thank you. He makes me happy, too.”

“I can tell. It’s a ‘mom’ thing. But I think you two are good together. And every couple is going to have their differences. It’s about how they handle those differences that shows whether or not they’ll last. I mean, before he met me, Dan could barely cook a meal for himself. And, he wasn’t as big on family, either. And before I met him, I thought I was done having children. But we’ve both changed in the ten years we’ve been together. It’s what couples do.”

“Thank you. We’re just a bit different from other couples, I guess.”

Jay shook her head. “No. You’re two adults past the age of consent who care for each other and want to be together. You’re a couple. And a cute one, too. It just took longer for you to become one than it should’ve.”

Harry smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome… And, speaking of taking longer to become a couple, would it be very motherly if I said I was glad my son finally pulled his head out of his ass and made things official?”

Harry laughed. “Probably not, but… I’m glad he did, too.”

“I like you, Harry. Which is good, because I think you’ll be around for a long time.”

“Thank you. I definitely want to be.”

Jay just smiled.

“Um, I’ll head back out there.” Harry pointed over his shoulder toward the living room.

“OK. I’ll see you soon.”

Harry returned to the other room and re-claimed his spot next to Louis.

“All good?” Louis whispered, wrapping his arm around Harry again.

Harry pecked him on the cheek. “Yup. Definitely all good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short, fluffy little epilogue is next! I hope you've enjoyed!


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it. If you're still reading, thank you so much for getting this far! God this is just fluff.

**May 2019**

 

Harry could already feel his heart racing in his chest. It wasn’t even seven in the morning yet and he felt like he was going to puke.

Today was his graduation day. In just a few hours, he’d be walking across a big stage on his college campus and getting his degree. He was nervous: about being done with college, being a member of the real world, having a real job, and of course, tripping on stage, which was extremely likely.

But the whole process of getting a job wasn’t scaring him. He’d actually gotten his first job offer two days ago, in a school that he’d applied to on a whim a few months ago. It was in a great area, was pretty close and would pay well. Honestly, he couldn’t have asked for more, and he was still trying to wrap his head around it. He’d never thought he’d get a job so soon, let alone before he’d even graduated. When he told Louis, they’d definitely… celebrated. Several times.

The memory of two nights ago brought a smile to Harry’s face, and he turned his head to the side to look at his boyfriend, who was still fast asleep.

Louis had been extremely supportive over Harry’s last two semesters, when Harry was interning and writing final papers and stressing out every single day. Harry knew he hadn’t been the easiest person to be around, but Louis hadn’t seemed to mind, and if he did, he was a pro at hiding it.

Over the last eight or so months, the two of them had grown even closer than before, spending most of their time together, and with each other’s friends and families, who seemed to have blended together very easily.

Anne had completely warmed up to Louis. The tough exterior she’d had when they first met had disappeared, and now Anne loved having Louis around, and sometimes even called him to talk, without asking for Harry.

Harry tried not to be bitter about that part.

Of course, Gemma and Robin liked him, too, especially since Gemma had another person to tease Harry with, and Robin had a buddy to go to sports games with, one he didn’t have to drag along against their will.

Harry had always been welcomed with Louis’ family, but now, it felt like he was truly a part of it. He was a constant coach for Daisy and Phoebe, who would be starting their freshman year of college in the fall, and a great help to Fizzy, whose own graduation ceremony was just last night. He and Lottie got to talk about fashion and makeup a lot, especially since Louis and Tommy, Lottie’s boyfriend, weren’t that impressed by it. Jay and Dan referred to Harry as ‘son,’ and Doris and Ernest loved having another ‘brother’ around the house.

Their families usually spent time together, as well, especially over the holidays when all of the kids were out of school. Their moms had, as Louis predicted, gotten along very well, and usually went out together, without the kids and husbands.

Their friend groups had of course blended together a while ago, and things were still good. Whenever Louis had people over to his apartment, he had people from both groups, and soon, it was like everyone had been friends for years.

It was… good. Life was good.

Louis sighed in his sleep, and Harry felt his smile widen. God, he was so in love.

And, yeah, that had happened pretty soon after they’d met each other’s families. Probably a month or so after. Sure, they’d only been officially dating for a month and a half, but they’d been dancing around each other all year. It was time.

“Stop staring at me,” Louis whispered.

Harry chuckled. “I’m not.”

“Liar.” Louis opened his eyes and found Harry staring right at him. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

Louis yawned and stretched his arms over his head. “What time is it?”

“Almost seven.”

Louis nodded and shut his eyes again.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Harry said.

“I won’t. I’m too excited for today.”

“Yeah, you seem like you’re bouncing off the walls.”

Louis smiled. “No, I am. On the inside.” He opened his eyes again and looked right at Harry. “I’m really proud of you. Have I said that lately?”

“Before we went to bed, yeah. And maybe another ten thousand times a day, every day for the last few months.”

“Well it’s true. I’m so proud of you,” Louis said. “You’re graduating today. You’re going to be a certified school psychologist and you already have a job for September. Do you know how amazing you are?”

Harry smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

“Cool?” Louis snorted. “It’s a little bit more than just cool.”

“OK, fine, it’s really impressive.”

“That’s more like it!”

“You’re incredible, you know that?” Harry asked. “You’ve always been so supportive of me and everything. I couldn’t have asked for anybody better than you.”

“I can say the same thing about you: always making me want to be a better person and always there for me when I need you. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Harry said. “So much.”

Louis turned onto his side and brought a hand to Harry’s face, cupping his cheek. He leaned in, bringing their lips together.

Harry put a hand on Louis’ waist and moved his body closer. Just as he parted his lips, he heard Louis’ alarm go off.

They both sighed, and Louis turned around to grab his phone so he could shut it off.

“Time to get up?” Harry asked.

“Yup. We have a big day ahead of us.”

And that they did. The graduation ceremony would start at eleven, but Harry’s mom had planned a party at their house later tonight. Harry’s entire family would be there, and so would Louis’. Most of their friends would be attending, as well, so it would be a long day.

“Better get a move on, then.”

Both of them sat up in bed and swung their legs over their respective sides.

“I need a shower,” Harry said. “You want to join?”

“Absolutely. Just give me a minute. I’ll be right in.”

“OK.” Harry winked at him before making his way into the bathroom.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Louis got up and went to his dresser. He went into the bottom drawer, the one with his workout clothes, and double checked that everything he needed was still in there.

Of course everything was; it wasn’t like two passports and an envelope full of travel and hotel arrangements would get up and walk off on their own.

See, in two days, Louis and Harry would be boarding a plane to Jamaica. Harry just didn’t know it yet. Louis planned on surprising him tonight at the party. He’d already cleared it with Harry’s boss at Spill the Beans, and their friends and family already knew about it, too.

Louis considered it a graduation present, and also a big step in the right direction. It would be their first trip together, as Harry had been too busy with school to go on one before. And Jamaica was a Caribbean island that Louis had always wanted to go to, and miraculously, one that Harry hadn’t been to yet. So it had just worked out nicely.

Louis hoped this vacation would at least be one that Harry didn’t forget, because he also planned on asking Harry to officially move in while they were away.

They’d discussed it briefly before. Harry was always at Louis’ apartment anyway and already had a key, so it wouldn’t be a huge jump.

“Louis!” Harry called from the bathroom. “You coming?”

“Yeah, here I come, babe.”

Louis shut the drawer and headed to the bathroom, toward the love of his life. Toward his future. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh! It's all done! If you liked it, even a little bit, please leave a Kudos and maybe a nice comment! And maybe reblog this updated [post](http://flamboyantommo.tumblr.com/post/171996919901) for the fic?  
> Thank you so much to everyone who read and who reblogged the post I made for this fic and told me they were looking forward to reading it.  
> Hit me up on [twitter](http://twitter.com/angelique_lee) or [tumblr](http://www.flamboyantommo.tumblr.com/) if you feel like it! If you follow me on either, let me know who you are so I definitely follow you back!
> 
> On to the next one! =)  
> <3


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